


One Night in Brooklyn

by CameronOfTroy



Series: The One-Night-in-Brooklyn-verse [1]
Category: Love Simon (2018), Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst for days, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, bram is an angsty boy, maybe some of the books, mostly based on the movie, reading books while watching the rain and shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-05-07 18:10:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14676597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CameronOfTroy/pseuds/CameronOfTroy
Summary: College AU where Bram didn't come forward at the carnival and now it's freshman year of college and the guilt's been eating him forever. Garrett, only looking out for his buddy, finally convinces him to get out of the apartment one night. Besides, how much could possibly go wrong at an open mic night in Brooklyn on ONE night?(The answer is quite a bit)





	1. The Last of the Unplucked Gems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title comes from the The Tragically Hip song.

Bram stared out the window of the apartment and watched the cars pass in the street below, hissing as they sped through the crisp New York evening and disappeared down the street. A taxi hit a puddle that formed earlier that day, spraying the still wet sidewalk. The smell of rain still hung in the fall air as people were starting to go out for the night. It was a Friday, after all. That’s what most people do on a Friday.

  
Most people, however, does not include Bram.

  
Bram, still watching the street, was terribly oblivious as Garrett crept up behind him. Garrett Loughlin, who many would not describe as someone who thinks things through properly, playfully grabs Bram by the soft spot in the middle of his sides. This is a clear example of why he doesn’t think things through, as if he had been that type of person he would remember the 10 self-defense classes Bram has been to since they moved to New York in August. He would’ve recognized that maybe, just maybe, grabbing Bram by a sensitive area without warning may elicit some form of learned technique that’s become, well not second nature, but it’s getting there.

He is not, however, that type of person.

Which leads to Bram, rather unfortunately, twisting and elbowing Garrett in the face with enough force to immediately send him sprawling to the floor of their living room. Bram, a second later, recognized what just happened and leaned down to help his best friend up.

“Damn Greenfeld, remind me never to do that again.”

“With pleasure,” Bram quipped, then went back to his place at the window. He picked up the book he was reading earlier, before he was distracted by the cars below, and went back to reading as Garrett assessed the damage Bram’s limb had made to his face. When he was certain his nose was, in fact, still in one piece, he noticed Bram was back to reading.

“Oh no no no no, not again. It is Friday night! We are two young, hot people in a city FULL of other young hot people. I just got paid my handsome salary from working at the laundromat downstairs. You are not spending another Friday night cooped up in here, feeling sorry for yourself!”

Bram sighed, put down the book, and turned to look at Garrett.

“I don’t feel bad for myself.”

“Beeeep, sorry that my bullshit meter reacting to the biggest pile of lies I have ever heard in my life. Please try again,” Garrett crossed his arms, and looked Bram in the eyes. Bram turned away so Garrett couldn’t see the blood rush to them, “Look, buddy, as much as I’m sure you don’t WANT to hear this, I need you to hear that keeping yourself in emotional quarantine for an entire semester is not healthy.” Bram swallowed, and watched as the street lights started to turn on as the evening descended into a cool November night.

“It’s not gonna be for the whole semester.”

“Then come out tonight,” Bram twisted back around to look at Garrett. “Look, I get that trying to drag you to that frat party on Halloween was maaaaaaybe a bad idea given certain circumstances, but I promise, we’re not going to anything big and flashy.” Bram looked down at his hands and twirled his fingers in his hands.

“Where are we going to?”

Garrett’s trademarked shit-eating grin returned to his face at the slight interest Bram was showing in tonight’s events.

“So, Erica, that girl from my psych class, is going to be playing at this open mic night at a café across town. I’ve scoped the place out already, it’s a small little hole in the wall with bookshelves and fair-trade coffee. And I won’t even pressure you to talk to a cute barista or anything tonight,” Garrett approached Bram and put his hand on his shoulder, “Just… leave the apartment for something that isn’t class. You’re starting to smell.”

Bram snorted, his lips curling into a small smile.

“Plus, it’d be nice to have my wingman back,” Bram rolled his eyes and spent a moment to stare out the window again. He then turned around to look back at Garrett.

“Fine, I will go,” Garrett pumped his fist in the air, and Bram was fairly sure he only did it because he’d watched The Breakfast Club the night before, “But no pressuring me to leave with somebody’s number.”

“Absolutely, no rushing the heart,” Garrett said, nodding animatedly. Bram looked down at the shirt Garrett had on.

“And you need to wear a different shirt.”

“What’s wrong with this shirt?”

“You got blood on it.”

Garrett looked down at his shirt and noticed the bright red blood stain that had formed below his chin. “Fuck me!” he yelled as he ran back to his bedroom to find a replacement shirt.

“Sorry!” Bram yelled into Garrett’s room as the sound of dresser drawers being opened emanated into the living room.

“Stop apologizing, and just get dressed to go out!”

“Why can’t I wear this?”

Garrett poked his head out of his bedroom and gave Bram a once over.

“You are not going to an open-mic in sweatpants. Put some pants on, dammit!” Garrett’s head retreated back into his room as the search for a new, clean shirt continued. Bram looked down at what he had on.

“Is the shirt okay at least?” he asked, hoping that he could put in the minimum amount of effort for this. That hope diminished when Garrett merely stuck his hand out and gave a disembodied thumbs down.

“Now get dressed, we have to leave in 10 minutes,” Bram sighed, and eased out of the window sill he was sitting in and shuffled to his own bedroom.

Turning on the light, Bram kicked off the sweatpants and approached his closet, immediately opting for a pair of slim-fitted jeans. If anyone asked, he’d say he liked how they outlined his legs, but he definitely picked them because they were the first pair he saw in the closet. He then threw off his tee shirt and added it to a growing pile of laundry by his bedside. To pick out his shirt, he used the same method as he had used to pick out the pants, wherein he opened his shirt drawer and just picked the first shirt he could find without a superhero motif on it. It was a light-blue long sleeve shirt, and he shimmied the sleeves up his arms so the cuffs sat just below his elbows. All in all, he thought while looking in the mirror, presentable.  
Just as he was leaving his room, his open laptop caught his eye. He’d been going through the old Creeksecrets Tumblr earlier, and he abandoned that endeavor when he came to his own Creeksecrets post, the clip art image of a Ferris wheel sitting just below the paragraph of text he’d spewed into the void that was the internet more than a year ago.

The post that sent him Jacques.

He rushed over to his laptop and closed the webpage, then slammed it closed. Tonight was not a night for thinking about past mistakes, he thought to himself.

“Greenfeld! Time to go!”

Bram patted his pockets to make sure he had his wallet and his phone, then turned off the light in his room and closed the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I enjoyed writing it. That being said, my life is a literal clusterfuck so I don't know how often I'll be able to update and add chapters but here's hoping I'm able to keep this going for anyone who enjoys it. :)


	2. Lightning Crashes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from the Live song.
> 
> Since the first chapter was a tad short, I made the second chapter longer. I'm hoping to have the rest of them be about this length.

The Uber Garrett called didn’t show up for another 5 minutes, which gave Bram enough time to stew in the living room. He tried not to think about last year, tried to focus on the night ahead of him. Tried to focus on what sort of things he could say to Garrett’s new lady friend, tried to think of what he could say while playing wingman.

But, as Bram knew all too well, it was very hard to focus whenever Jacques was involved.

Jacques, who had been the only he could really talk to.

Jacques, who had been there for him as he slowly revealed himself to his family.

Jacques, who had become what he still called his first love.

When the Uber showed up, Bram tried to make a last-ditch effort to barricade himself in his bedroom, but Garrett blocked his escape, and pushed him towards the door.

“Not tonight, Bram! We are going to go have fun.”

“You don’t even like open mic nights! You once called them a poor man’s American Idol audition”

“Maybe so,” Garrett grunted as he swung open the front door and pushed Bram out into the landing of their apartment building. Then, with the agility of a mountain cat, he slammed their door closed, locked the door and pocketed his pair of house keys. Bram went to open it when he realized he’d left his keys in his sweatpants. “But I like this girl, and I am very willing to sit through some terrible acoustic covers of Wonderwall if it means she smiles at me.” Bram huffed.

“When did you get so romantic?”

“Around the same time you started to get mopey. Had to balance out your mood so our neighbors wouldn’t hate us.” With that, he looked past Bram and waved at Mrs. Killian, their geriatric neighbor who would regularly tell her knitting circle about the sweet boys who live next door. Mrs. Killian waved back and led her equally geriatric basset hound Franklin inside from the walk they had just gotten home from. Garrett grabbed Bram and started leading him downstairs. Outside, Garrett hopped down the stairs to the sidewalk and approached the Honda Civic waiting there. As he opened the rear door, the driver turned around to face him.

“You’re Garrett?”

“Correct.” The driver turned back around and started punching into his phone to start the trip, as Garrett held the door open for Bram. “M’lord,” Garrett pronounced, curtsying slightly. Bram rolled his eyes and slid into the back seat of the Civic. A back seat that smelled oddly of Oreos, he noted. His heart lurched as Garrett slid in next to him.

“You’re going to Brooklyn?” The driver asked, not wanting to accidentally drop someone off in Astoria again. His star rating had only just gotten back up to 4.

“Yup,” confirmed Garrett as he pulled the seat belt across himself and buckled it in. Looking over at Bram. He leaned over and in a hushed tone said “Greenfeld, seatbelt.” Bram, who’d been distracted by the smell of Oreos, jolted out of his reverie, stared at Garrett for a second and tugged the seatbelt across himself. The Civic pulled away from the curb and headed out into the night.

As they crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, Bram stared out the window and watched the lights on the bridge as they passed them. Maybe it was the smell of Oreos, or maybe it was how the lights reminded him of the Winter Carnival, or maybe it’s because it was something Bram thought about it so often it had become second nature for his brain, but for whatever reason Bram started thinking about Jacques again.

Jacques, who had once upon a time made the dumbass move of leaving his secret gmail open in the library (he’d found this out later when Abby had pondered aloud how Martin had even gotten the emails in the first place).

Jacques, who had attempted to keep a lid on it so that Bram could be safe.

Jacques, who hadn’t been able to keep a lid on it and had been forced out into the open.

Jacques, who had been Simon Spier, the one person he had always hoped Jacques secretly was.

Bram lurched as Garrett placed his hand on Bram’s shoulder.

“You okay buddy?”

Bram nodded earnestly “Just thinking.”

Garrett’s face changed to something indescribable. In the passing street lights, Bram could’ve sworn there was a little bit of pity, a little remorse. Bram faked a smile, though he never was a good actor so it just looked like a grimace. Garrett pulled his hand back. Bram looked out the front of the Uber, and realized he’d never been to Brooklyn before when he recognized exactly zero of his surroundings. He turned back to Garrett.

“How far away from this café are we?”

“About 5 minutes,” the driver interjected. Bram, suddenly remembering there was a third person present, slightly thanked him, then went back to looking out the window. For the rest of the ride, Bram was able to keep his mind off the things he’d been trying not to think about all year, and pretty soon the Uber was pulling up outside a small café.

Garrett and Bram got out of the Honda and as Garrett got out his phone to text Erica (God Bram hoped that was he remembering her name right), Bram peeked inside and saw that Garrett had described it perfectly. A small hole in the wall, the entire left wall was a massive bookshelf with hundreds of books. A small stage sat at the back, and Bram could see someone setting up a microphone and running a soundcheck. Beside that was the coffee counter, and through the crowd he could see two baristas working, both girls. He sighed a sigh of relief, because this meant Garrett definitely wasn’t going to try to set him up with a barista. Again. God, he can’t can never go back to that Starbucks.

Garrett put his phone down and turned to Bram.

“Okay, Erica says they’re inside. It’s just her and her friend Frankie, and they’ve got us a table,” Bram nodded. Garrett sighed “Look… thanks for coming tonight. I know I might’ve been a bit of a jerk earlier-”

“It’s fine,” Bram cuts him off, smiling weakly, “You were right. I need to get out of the apartment.”

Garrett smiled and patted Bram on the back again. He does that a lot, thought Bram. With the slightest amount of pressure, Garrett guided Bram up to the door of the café and they entered. Garrett immediately started swiveling his head around and when he found Erica, his face erupted in a smile. He waved at her, and Erica caught sight of Garrett’s hand in the air and waved back. Bram was able to see another girl sitting beside Erica and assumed that was Frankie. Garrett weaved his way through the crowd, Bram following with his head down. When they got to the table Erica had gotten, Erica stood up and hugged Garrett.

“Aaaaaah, you made it!” Garrett’s cheeks turned bright red as he reciprocated the hug. Erica pulled herself out of it and turned to address Bram, “And you must be Bram.”

Bram smiled shyly and went to shake her hand, so he was caught off guard and off balance when Eric launched herself into a hug. Bram’s face gave away his utter surprise, as his cheeks reddened. Erica pulled herself out of the hug, a hug that Bram noted was significantly shorter than the one she gave Garrett. Maybe wingmanning wouldn’t be as hard as he thought tonight.

“Bram, Garrett, this is my friend Frankie,” With that Frankie gave a quick wave, then put her hand back underneath the table where Bram assumed, by her gaze and the slight glow bouncing off her glasses, she was texting someone. Erica turned back to Bram.

“Garrett’s told me so much about you. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

“Thank. He talks about you a lot too,” Garrett’s face goes red again as Erica raises her eyebrows in mock surprise and turns to look at him.

“Is that so?”

“Don’t play so coy,” Frankie says without looking up from her lap, “You talk about him a lot too.” Erica takes a hand and smacks Frankie’s shoulder. Frankie feigns hurt as Erica gives her a playful death glare. Bram smiles.

“So how do these things work? This is our first time.” Erica turns back to Bram.

“Well, there’s a paper up at the counter where you can sign up. A lot of people bring guitars,” Bram notices the guitar case leaning against the bookcase beside Frankie, “But some people do stand up, poetry readings. One time, a guy brought his keyboard and did this really, really bad cover of Bennie and the Jets.”

“You play guitar?”

“Frankie plays the guitar,” cuts in Garrett, “She sings.” Garrett’s eyes catch with Erica’s and he smiles. She blushes. Bram smirks. And Frankie does basically nothing. Bram then starts to look around.

“Hey, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh, it’s just down there,” Erica points to a small hallway down the far side of the café, beside the coffee counter. Bram nods and thanks her and makes his way over to the bathroom.

***

While Bram went to the bathroom, Garrett continued to talk with Erica. Mid-conversation, while Erica was discussing the finer points of Wes Craven’s filmography (Garrett isn’t even sure himself how they go there, but he doesn’t care), he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Garrett?”

Garrett turned around to see who it was that had approached him and came face to face with Nick Eisner’s smiling face.

“Eisner, what the hell?!” Garrett, momentarily forgetting Erica, grabbed his friend in a bear hug. “What the actual fuck?!” Still smiling, Nick turned around to a table where Garrett saw two girls he recognized immediately.

“I told you it was him!”

Abby Suso approached Garrett at breathtaking speeds, which was a feat of its own in the crowded café, all while screeching like a swan on methamphetamine. When she got to Garrett, she jumped into a group hug with Nick. Leah followed behind, instead deciding to slowly meander towards Garrett.

“What the hell? Was there a squad reunion I didn’t know about?” Abby pulled out of the hug.

“Sorta? Leah, Nick and I decided to come up for a last-minute weekend trip! We literally decided to do it this morning.” Abby grinned and then reached behind her and grabbed at Leah’s hand, who clasped her hand around Abby’s. Garrett, still smiling, took a while to notice this slight action. When he did, he pointed at their hands, mouth only slightly agape, then looked at Abby. Abby, grinning like a dumbass in love, nodded at Garrett.

“When did this happen?”

“A few months ago… it’s still new but it feels… right,” Abby looked at Leah and their eyes sparkled. Garrett had seen that look on Bram before, so he knew they were in deep. He turned to Nick, a question forming in his mind, but before he could even open his mouth Nick just nonchalantly shrugged.

“We’re all adults. I’m actually really happy for them.”

Abby peaked beyond Garrett at Erica.

“I’m so sorry, this was super rude of us to just derail your conversation,” Erica giggled then waved Abby off.

“It’s not problem, really.”

Garrett, his mind returning from high school years to the present, whipped around to look at Erica, then back at his friends.

“Okay, umm, introductions,” he pointed at Erica with two open palms, giving any passerby the impression of a crossing guard, “Guys, this is Erica. She’s in my abnormal psychology class, and that over is her friend Frankie.” At the mention of her name, Frankie raised her hand in a mock salute, while not looking up from what is still definitely her phone. Garrett then whipped his hands in the opposite direction. “Erica, these are friends of mine from high school. This is Nick, Abby and the sarcastic ball of love that is Leah Burke.”

Erica extended a hand to shake hands, and when Leah shook hers, Erica looked down at the dress Leah had on “Oh my god I love it, where did you get it?”

“Honestly no idea. I want to say Forever 21 but I feel like that’s just a cop out answer these days.” Abby snickered at her girlfriend’s answer. While the girls continued to talk about Leah’s impeccable fashion sense, Nick turned to Garrett and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey, after this you guys should join the four of us, we’re going to this party a few blocks over,” Nick smiled while Abby started nodding at high speeds.

“Oh my god yes Garrett, you guys should so come!” Garrett turned back to Erica, who shrugged.

“I’m game, are you?” She asks, a small smile forming at the corner of her mouth.

Garrett nodded, “Very game. But we should wait for Bram before we decide.”

“Oh my god Bram’s here too?” Abby started jumping in place with excitement. Garrett began to worry that she might make her heart explode from stress and excitement.

“Yeah he’s just in the bathroom,” Garrett’s smile of joy became one of slight confusion when something Nick said hit him, “Wait, the four of you?”

“Well yeah. Me, the girls, and-”

Nick is then cut off by one of the baristas taking the stage. Small groups of people started clapping, and everyone turned their attention to the front stage, forgetting the conversations they were having not two seconds ago. The barista took microphone out of the stand and approached the front of the stage.

“How we doing tonight?” The crowd cheered, giving Garrett the impression of a high school football game instead of a small open mic night. “Awesome! Well, our first act is a regular these past few weeks! We really like having him around so we hope you don’t scare him off tonight.” Abby turned to Nick excitedly.

“He’s on first, right?”

“That’s what he said.”

“Who’s on fir-” Garrett’s question is cut off by the very answer to it walking across the stage to the microphone stand, carrying an acoustic guitar. And for the first time in a long time, Garrett thought before he did something. He decided against saying the three words that immediately came to mind, for fear of inciting an awkward conversation about why he might say those words upon seeing Simon Spier suddenly walk back into his and Bram’s life.

Those three words were “God fucking dammit”, because he knew there was no way in hell that this would end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no indeed, Garrett.  
> Thanks for all the kudos you guys have given so far! It means a lot :)


	3. It's All Coming Back To Me Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from the Celine Dion song.

As Bram finished up washing his hands in the bathroom, he heard the faint sound of applause coming from the other side of the door. Show must be starting, he thought to himself. Bram looked up and ended up looking himself in the eye through the mirror. He leaned slightly over the sink he was at and held himself in a solid stare.

“Now you listen to me: you’ve got this! You are going to try and have some fun tonight, and you WILL stop feeling sorry for yourself.” Bram’s reflection stared back at him with the same stare, and for a second Bram forgot that was him, and nodded in agreement with himself. “Good.” He quickly grabbed some paper towel and dried his hands before briskly leaving the bathroom, silently hoping the other stall wasn’t occupied so no one heard his little affirmation.

As he left the bathroom, he heard the sharp twang of a guitar string smacking something it wasn’t supposed to, followed by whoever was at the mic swearing under their breath. He made sure the bathroom door was closed properly, then started down the small hallway with a smile on his face. Then the voice at the microphone spoke.

“Hi everybody.”

The crowd whooped and Bram stopped dead in his tracks. He was still halfway down the hallway, and couldn’t see the stage, but he didn’t need to see the stage to know who was at the microphone. When you pine for someone uncontrollably for four years, you tend to remember certain details about them. Like the way their eyes sparkle when they smile, or the way they breathe when they concentrate, or the way their hair looks when the sun is shining down on it in the late afternoon.

Or, in this case, the way their voice sounds when they’re nervous.

Bram forced his legs to keep working, making his way down the rest of the hallway to where the coffee counter was, and slowly turned to look at the stage. There, under the shining light of the spotlight that the café had rigged up, sitting on a bar stool with a guitar sitting across his lap, was Simon Spier.

Simon.

Fucking.

Spier.

Bram’s breath hitched in his throat as he took it in: the perpetual bedhead, the hoodie, the Elliot Smith t-shirt he could make out under the hoodie, the shy smile, the- goddammit is he wearing eyeliner again? Bram’s heart entered hyperdrive as Simon leaned into the mic a little.

“So, this is kinda my first time, um… please be gentle,” a light chuckle emanates from the patrons of the café, “this is for someone who used to be in my life.” With that, Simon adjusts himself on the barstool and starts strumming a slow tune Bram doesn’t recognize. Then Simon opens his mouth and oh god his voice. It’s not perfect, but it’s soulful and envelopes him. Bram can’t tear his eyes off Simon as he sings:

 _I met this boy_  
               _He was walking through one of my dreams_  
_He kissed my eyes_  
_And everything that he said_  
_Made so much sense to me_  
_That I still feel like I’m half asleep_

And oh god just like that Bram started to get teary-eyed a little. He wiped away the tears and tried to keep them from coming anymore but oh god he couldn’t because he was certain this was meant for Blue. Bram wasn’t 100% sure, but as he listened, it made sense. The lyrics struck him, hit him right where his memories of his emails with Jacques lived.

 _The rumours of heaven_  
               _Only speak the truth on earth_  
_My dark angel_  
_Shine your light on my curse_  
_You are the other that I have to find_  
_Until I do_  
_I guess I’ll see you ‘round my mind_

Determined to SOMEHOW take his mind off the boy pouring his soul into a microphone in front of him, Bram looked around the café wildly. He found Garrett instantly and started towards him, but stopped. Because Garrett was standing next to Nick. And on the other side of Nick were Abby and Leah and Abby was hugging Leah from behind and then Leah kissed Abby on the cheek and- wait when did this happen?

And for a second, a horrible, terrible thought crept into Bram’s mind.

Garrett had known Simon was going to be here and had tricked him into coming.

That thought dissolved when Bram looked at Garrett again and saw that while Nick, Leah and Abby were smiling and maybe a little teary-eyed, like proud friends would be, Garrett was… not. If Bram were pressed to describe Garrett’s face in that instant, Bram might defer to absolute horror, except not really. Point was, Bram could tell Garrett was just as surprised to see Simon Spier at this random-ass open mic in this random ass café on this random-ass night in BROOKLYN, OF ALL PLACES, as Bram was. Bram turned back to watch Simon finish out the song.

               _‘Cause there’s this face that I know  
               That I’ve never seen_

Fuck.

_Sometimes I feel like I’m livin’ in  
               Somone else’s dream_

Fuck Fuck!

_Still I thank you  
               For stopping to talk_

Fuck fuck FUCK!

_And I wonder  
               Just into who’s dream did who walk_

FUUUUUUUUUCK!

The tears started again, and Bram quickly wiped them away again. He then crossed the café to where Garrett stood. Then the song ended and the café erupted in applause. As Bram approached Garrett, he was vaguely aware of Simon thanking the audience. Garrett, sensing Bram’s sudden return, turned to look at him and Bram realized that actually, he would call the look on his best friend’s face that of terror. And honestly, knowing how this might look, he wouldn’t blame him.

 _I didn’t know he would be here,_ Garrett mouthed to him.

 _I know,_ Bram mouthed back. Garrett nodded, then he put a hand on Bram’s shoulder. His face changed from one of terror to the face best friends make to silently ask if the other is okay. Bram nodded, and quickly wiped away any wetness in his eyes. The moment ended as Abby started cheering, and Bram turned to see Simon approaching the group. Abby immediately jumped him, hugging Simon while stood there awkwardly holding the acoustic guitar.

“That was AMAZING!” Abby pulled out of the hug, “Like I knew you could sort of sing because Cabaret and karaoke but DAMN Simon! And I told you the eyeliner was a good idea again, you look hot! I swear I saw one of the baristas checking you out!” Simon chuckled at the compliment, then turned to see Garrett and Bram staring at him. Bram saw him get taken aback, but his smile never wavered.

“Oh my god, I didn’t know you guys would be here.”

“We didn’t either,” Garrett quipped, with Bram lightly elbowing him in the ribs.

“We actually ran into them here,” Nick added, smiling as he patted Simon on the back.

“Oh?” Simon asked, turning back to Garrett and Bram. Garrett coughed a little.

“Yeah, we actually came here to cheer on Eri-” Garrett, looks behind him and gently pulls Erica in front of him, “Erica! Erica, this Simon Spier.”

“Nice to meet you!” Erica says smiling, extending a hand towards Simon, who turns to her and shakes her hand.

“Are you guys just here to watch?” Simon asked, glancing from Erica to Garrett and finally to Bram, who was super happy for the low lighting so Simon couldn’t see the redness around his eyes or the deepening hue in his cheeks.

“No actually, I’m here to play,” Erica smiled at Simon, then looked at a watch on her hand, “Speaking of which, I need to go get ready,” Erica turned around and leaned past Garrett, “Frankie! We’re on soon!” With that Frankie, for the first time all night, looked up from her phone, nodded, and grabbed the guitar case beside her. She then followed Erica towards the stage as Erica smiled at Garrett. Garrett smiled back and waved a little as she walked through the café. Simon, confused, turns to Garrett after watching Erica and Frankie walk away.

“When did that other girl get here?”

"She was here the whole time,” Nick interjects. Simon’s brow furrows, looks at Nick, then turns to Garrett, who nods in agreement.

“So, Simon, when did you start being a guitar-playing badass?” Garret asks, pointing at the guitar that Simon is still holding. Simon laughs.

“I started learning to play last year. There was a lot of… emotions, and I needed a way to express them so I figured I already really like listening to music, might as well learn to play it.” Garrett nods, in understanding.

“Well you were really good,” Bram ekes out, startling Garrett a little. These were the first words he’d spoken since Simon had shown up. Garrett turned to Bram, then back to Simon. Simon smiled at Bram.

“Thanks,” and Garrett was certain he saw some redness tint Simon’s cheeks but in this lighting, he couldn’t be sure. Then Garrett looked up at the stage and saw Erica and Frankie get up on two barstools, Frankie holding a guitar and Erica holding a microphone.

“Guys, guys, they’re on!” Garrett absent-mindedly took a step forward towards the stage to get a better look. This however cut off Bram’s view of Simon and for a moment, Bram was thankful. But then he found himself taking a hesitant step forward and was able to see Simon on the other side of Garrett. And just like so many times before, Bram saw Simon when he was sure Simon thought no one was looking. And he fell in love again.

He forced himself to watch the stage as Frankie and Erica performed an acoustic cover of You Might Think, but he kept finding himself to turn and look at Simon. A small smile crept onto his face. Earlier he was certain God had it in for him, forcing to come face to face with the one thing he was trying to avoid tonight. Now however, he wasn’t so sure that this a cruel joke, but divine intervention.

He’d been given a second chance, and he wasn’t going to waste it.

As Erica and Frankie finished up, Bram laid some ground rules down for himself: 1. Don’t tell Simon he’s Blue. If that song, as well as his explanation of why learned guitar was anything to go off, Simon was still emotionally raw and revealing himself as the person who had broken Simon’s heart might do more damage than good. 2. Whatever happens, don’t get drunk. If last Halloween was anything other than a disaster, it was proof that Bram could not trust himself around Simon and alcohol at the same time. And 3. Actually talk to him, dammit! All of this is moot if he remains mute! Bram snickered to himself when he thought last line up. Actually, he snickered a little louder than that because Garrett turned to look at him with a quizzical look. Bram looked up at Garrett and tried to pass it off as nonchalantly as possible, giving a shrug. Still confused, Garrett turned back to watch Erica, and when the song ended his face lit up and he was, quite easily, the loudest source of applause in that café.

When Erica and Frankie rejoined the group, Abby and Leah congratulated them, and Garrett hugged Erica. Bram thought it looked awkward, but he saw Erica’s smile afterwards and could tell she genuinely enjoyed the hug. Damn, they do have it bad, he thought. Erica turned to Nick.

“So, what was it you were saying about a party?” Garrett’s eyes bugged out, he swiveled to look at Bram, then swiveled back.

"You now, I think Bram and I might head back to our apartment. He told me he was a little tired.” Bram, looked at Garrett confused.

“Actually, I think a party sounds great.” Garrett swiveled back around to look at Bram with the most confused look on his face Bram had ever seen.

“You sure bud? Earlier you seemed pretty tired.”

“Yeah,” Bram nodded, a smile spreading across his face, “I mean it’s Friday night. Why not?” He looked to the group in front of him, “It’ll feel like high school all over again.” Abby raised both hands in the air in celebration and excitement.

“We’re getting the band back together!” She yelled, causing some cafe patrons to shush her. Then she launched across the group, hugged Bram, and turned back to face the group, “Simon, when did you say that party starts?”

“Nine o’clock,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, “We got plenty of time to chill here, walk over to my place to put my guitar away, maybe pre-drink a little then make our way over.”

“Awesome plan!” Abby said, then she turned to Bram, “Oh my god you have no idea how happy I am we ran into you guys. This is going to be the best night EVER!” Bram chuckled, and turned to see Simon, smiling at him and he couldn’t help but hope Abby was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those wondering, the song that Simon sings is Dark Angel by Blue Rodeo and NO, I did not choose the song just because the band name has Blue in it... that's just a happy accident.  
> Oh I know I said the song Erica and Frankie perform is You Might Think, but I forgot to say the band, which is The Cars.
> 
> Look's like Bram's still got quite the night in front of him. What'll happen at the party? Only one way to find out. STAY TUNED!!


	4. Building A Mystery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from the Sarah McLachlan song.

After sticking around to watch a few more acts at the café, Simon lead their merry troupe out into the street, and started walking back to Simon’s apartment. They walked two by two by two by two, with Simon and Nick up front talking about guitar, Abby and Leah behind them holding hands, Erica and Garrett following, talking and occasionally smiling at each other, then Bram and Frankie. Bram watched their surroundings as Frankie continued to text while walking. Bram was actually impressed by her ability to walk and text without walking into anything. It was like she had a sixth sense.

Suddenly, Bram found that he is twosome has become a threesome, and turned to see Abby walking beside him. She hooked her arm through his and pulled herself close to Bram.

“So, Bram…. Bramothy.”

“Actually Bram’s short for Abraham,” Bram said with a smirk.

“Really?” Abby looked up at Bram with a grimace, “Why didn’t I know that?”

“I dunno,” Bram shrugged, “I guess it never really came up,” Bram paused, “Wait did you really think my name was ‘Bramothy’?”

“No…” Abby looked up at Bram indignantly, then looked forward, “Maybe. That doesn’t matter.”

“Matters a little,” said Bram with a chuckle.

“ANYWAY,” Abby yelled, a smile playing across her face, “Abraham, we’ve been friends for how long?”

“About a year.”

“About a year,” Abby repeated, nodding. She then turned to look at Bram, “Tell me Bram, why do I know so little about you?” Bram turned to look at Abby, and while he was expecting her question to be accompanied by probing eyes, all Bram found was an inviting warmth. Bram shrugged.

“I just don’t talk about myself a lot.”

“Well, we’re gonna change that,” Abby said with a smile, then she looked past Bram at Frankie who is still on her phone, “Why don’t you start by telling me about your lady friend?”

“Oh, we, uh-” Bram turned to look at Frankie, then back to Abby, “We’re not, together.”

“Oh! Oh I just made this awkward, didn’t I?”

“Not really,” Frankie interjected. Bram and Abby’s heads swiveled to see her giving them some serious side-eye, then watched her catch up to Erica to walk beside her instead.

"Well she seems… pleasant,” added Abby before diverting her attention back to Bram, “Okay, are you dating someone?”

“No, no I’m just… just focusing on school and… and stuff,” Bram stumbled over his words a little.

“Uh-huh…” Abby nodded, smiling like she knows some universal secret, “Or maybe there’s someone you wish you could be dating but can’t.” Bram’s eyes flicked from Abby to look up at Simon, who’s now flanked by Leah and Nick. He couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like they were discussing some dream Nick had. Bram noticed the way Simon’s hand held his guitar case, the way his hair moved when a breeze came down the street. He felt his cheeks heat up and based on the small noise Abby makes he knows she’d seen him blushing. “There IS someone, isn’t there?

“Hey, why do we have to talk about my inexistent love life?” Bram asked, desperate to change the topic and for a second, he wondered why? Why was he trying to change the topic? It’s not like he’d been hiding the fact he was gay anymore, not like he had been in high school. Sure, he didn’t shout it from the rooftops, but he also didn’t flat out lie anymore. And Abby’s dating Leah now, so he was pretty damn sure she wasn’t going to be homophobic. AND if he told Abby about his four-year long crush on Simon Spier (but not the stuff about Jacques and Blue), he was sure she could help him out in that department. Bram sighed. “Sorry, that was… a little rude of me.”

“No, no, it’s okay. If you’re not comfortable with it we can change the topic. Like… what are you studying at school, what do you want to do, you still doing soc-”

“I’ve been in love with the same person for four years,” Bram blurted out, quiet enough so that only Abby heard. She gasped, a little out of shock and a little out of joy.

 “Who?” Bram’s mouth hung open as he psyched himself to simultaneously come out to Abby, THEN tell her he’s in love with one of her best friends. But before he could say, Abby cut him off, “No, wait! I’ll guess!” Bram chuckles.

“I promise you, you’re not gonna guess it.” Bram was sure that, even though for years he felt his crush on Simon had been noticeable, he was also certain that everyone at their lunch table was a bunch of oblivious dumbasses (he meant that in the best way possible), or else someone other than Garrett would’ve put it all together by now. And even then, Garret only knew about it because one day after soccer practice, Bram had just told him everything.

“Oh Abraham, ye of little faith.” Abby smirked at Bram, then her face took on a look of intense thought. “Clearly, if it’s someone you’ve been in love with for 4 years, it would have had to have been someone from Creekwood.”

“Clearly,” affirmed Bram, smiling as Abby continued pondering the task at hand.

“….goddammit why is Taylor Metternich the only name that comes to mind?”

“Abby, I can assure you, I am not, nor have I ever been, in love with Taylor Metternich,” he turned to see Abby snort at that.

“Okay then, so you’re not into drama nerds.”

“I never said that,” Bram stated, before turning away when he felt his cheeks heat up again. God, he hadn’t blushed this much since… well since the last time he saw Simon.

“Ooooooh, so we ARE into drama nerds. Okay, okay… that makes this easier.” Abby tugged on Bram’s elbow so that he would turn to look at her, “You got anything else you can tell me about this mystery girl to make my life easier?”

Bram thought for a second. Honestly, he was having fun with Abby’s little guessing game, but hearing her use “mystery girl” sent stomach into knots of anxiety. “Well, they have one of the best smiles I’ve ever seen. Their eyes are this beautiful shade of gray that makes me feel at home whenever I get the chance to look into them. And they have an eccentric and eclectic taste in music.” Bram smiled as a puzzled look crossed Abby’s face.

“Okay, see, when I said I wanted clues I meant more like ‘They were on the debate team’ or ‘They have two sisters’.” Bram laughed.

“Well, that’s all you’re getting,” he retorted, then stopped Abby so that they didn’t walk into Erica. Erica had abruptly stopped because, it turned out, they had arrived at Simon’s apartment. The group waited as he opened the front door, then followed him into the lobby. Simon directed them up a flight of stairs to an apartment on the third floor. After unlocking the door, Simon pushed open the door and led them into his apartment.

The first thing Bram noticed upon entering was that it was spectacularly Simon. The whole apartment was a little smaller than the one Bram shared with Garrett, but Bram noted there was only one bedroom off the side so for a one bedroom this place was particularly roomy. The main living room took up the majority of the floorplan, and Bram took in all the adornments littering the walls. There was a Cabaret poster on one wall, a Kinks poster on another. A Hufflepuff banner hung above the window that looked out onto the street. In the corner Bram saw a record player with a decent record collection. Along one wall there was a couch that looked like it could be a pullout bed, and Bram confirmed his suspicions when he saw a handful of bags beside it. Clearly, this is where Abby, Leah and Nick were staying.

As Bram was taking in the apartment, Abby walked up behind him. “Was it Brianne?”

“Huh?” Bram spun around suddenly.

“Was your crush on Brianne?”

“Oh, uh, no. No, she wasn’t really my type.”

Abby’s eyes fixed on Bram. “Not your type…”

“That’s correct,” nodded Bram.

“This ain’t over Abraham,” Abby said playfully, eyeing Bram. She then slowly made her way over to her girlfriend, making sure not to break eye contact with Bram.

“Yo, Spier!” Garrett said. Bram turned to look at Simon, who had been showing Nick his vinyl collection. Bram noticed he was still holding his guitar case. “Didn’t you say there we were gonna be pre-drinking?” Simon chuckled, then put his guitar down beside the records.

“Glad to see some things never change Garrett,” he said while passing Garrett. Bram watched Simon make his way towards his kitchen, then quickly turned back to the group, “What’s everybody’s poison of choice?”

“Vodka cran!” Leah shouted.

“Same for me!” Abby added, now sitting on her girlfriend’s lap in a bucket chair that it looked like Simon picked up at a Goodwill.

"I’ll take a beer.” Nick said, not looking up from the records as he went through them.

"I think Garrett and I will take a beer too,” Erica said, and Bram caught Garrett’s look of surprise and admiration.

“Who’s to say I didn’t want something fruity?” Garrett asked.

“Did you want something fruity?” Erica retorted playfully, her hands on her hips and a smile playing across her face.

“Not really,” Garrett said, then he and Erica started laughing. Bram looked on shaking his head. He could not believe Garrett thought he was going to need a wingman.

“I’ll have a screwdriver,” Frankie said, sitting on the floor against the couch. The perfectly empty couch, which, Bram though, looked rather comfortable. Why this she wanted to sit on the floor instead of the couch, Bram couldn’t imagine. This woman continued to confuse and terrify Bram.

“Bram?” Bram turned at the mention of his name and found Simon looking at him. His moon gray eyes were staring softly and Bram couldn’t help but get lost in them for a second. “Bram, did you want something to drink?”

“Oh, uh, just a beer, should be fine.” Bram was personally surprised with how coherent the words that came out of his mouth had been. Simon smiled and nodded at him, then receded into the kitchen. Bram turned to look at Abby, and found that she was instead looking at Leah, having some sort of deep conversation that girlfriends have. A mixture of emotions hit Bram, but only for a second. He was able to recognize jealousy, over Abby and Leah’s perfect relationship, and he recognized relief at Abby not seeing Bram’s moment of infatuation (he later reasoned “moment of infatuation” might be a bit of a misnomer, as he had been infatuated with Simon for a very, very long time). But there was something else, and Bram didn’t know it right away, but after a few minutes, Bram got it.

He was sad she hadn’t seen as well, because suddenly it felt like he was hiding again. Which, he supposed, he technically was. He hadn’t corrected her when she said “mystery girl”, and even if he kept telling himself that that was because he didn’t want to ruin this “game” Abby had made for herself, there was no denying. He was hiding again.

Pretty soon Simon returned with everyone’s drinks, giving them out one by one. He came to Bram last.

“And a beer for Bram,” he said. In one hand, the hand he had extended to Bram, was a bottle of Budweiser. In his other hand was a red solo cup, with something that looked like orange juice and smelled like tequila. Bram reached out to take the beer bottle from Simon. His finger brushed against Simon’s pinky on the bottle, and Bram felt an electric spark zap through him. He felt his cheeks burning, but he forced himself to look at Simon. Small steps, after all. Simon was smiling at him, this soft smile that he remembered from the lunch table. And they held each other’s gaze for a little too long, but Bram didn’t mind, because nobody was noticing.

“OH!” Bram pulled back when he heard Abby, then turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide, her eyebrows raised, and her mouth in a perfect O. Leah was looking at her confused as fuck, and out of the corner of his eye, Bram saw the same look on Simon’s face.

“Abby, you okay?” Simon asked, eyebrows furrowed in concern. Abby looked at Simon, then at Bram, then back to Simon.

“Yeah…” she said, “yeah, yeah… I’m… Oh I’m good.” Abby jumped to her feet, then rushed over to Bram and grabbed his hand. “Bramothy, could I see you please?”

“I told you, it’s Abraham,” he said quietly as Abby dragged him to Simon’s bedroom. She pushed him inside, then turned to look at the living room. Everyone (except Frankie, who was unfazed and drinking her screwdriver) was looking at her, confused as all hell. Abby grabbed the bedroom door.

“This does not concern you,” she said in a comically British accent, before closing the door. Then, she turned to Bram, her face returning to the one she had had on the couch earlier. “Oh my god.”

“Not so loud!” Bram whispered, looking at the door to the living room where there were 5 people who had just witnessed something so strange any of them might approach the door to listen in. Bram was fairly certain he heard floorboards creaking on the other side.

“Oh my god! You have a crush on Simon?!” Abby approached Bram at alarming speeds, and he was reminded of how fast she was able to move through the crowded café. “You’ve had a crush on Simon for FOUR YEARS?!”

“I said quiet down!” Bram hissed, then looked at the door again. Abby followed his gaze, then like a gazelle, crossed the room and opened it. There, they found Leah and Nick, ears pressed to where the door used to be. Beyond them, Simon was talking with Garrett and Erica, oblivious of the invasion of privacy that had been occurring. Nick and Leah looked at each other, eyes wide with terror.

“Oh we were just-” started Nick, but Abby grabbed them both by the collar and pulled them into the bedroom, then quietly shut the bedroom door behind them. The three of them turned to look at Bram, who felt like now would be a great time to find out he was part turtle and just pull his head into himself. That’d be a weird superpower, he mused to himself, and smirked, then stopped when he caught them gaping at him.

“So… show much did you guys hear?” He nodded at Nick and Leah. Nick looked at Leah, then started to shrug.

“I have… no idea… what you mean…”

"None whatsoever,” Leah continued. Abby rolled her eyes.

“My guess is they heard everything so far.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Bram shot Abby a look, who just shrugged.

“Hey, I’m not gonna apologize for being so freaking EXCITED!” Bram, Nick and Leah shushed her at the same time, and Abby recoiled from the collective shushing. “Sorry.” Simon’s three best friends in the whole wide world then turned to Bram expectantly. Bram sighed.

“I suppose you want me talk about it?”

Abby smiled and nodded, “That would be nice.” Bram sat down on the bed and looked around the room. There was more Hufflepuff merchandise, an Elliot Smith poster, an NYU placard. But what caught Bram’s eye was something Simon had framed and hung above his desk. Bram recognized the Tumblr post he had made immediately, and it felt like all the air in his lungs had escaped through his lips.

He took a swig from the beer he was still holding, then turned back to look at the others. Abby had sat down on the bed beside him, Nick was leaning on the door and Leah was sitting on the floor across from him. He glanced back at the post, then back at Abby. Finally, he looked down at his hands, as he twined his fingers together on the beer bottle he was holding.

“Well… it all started first day of freshman year… when Garrett invited me join your table because I was the new kid… and then it happened.”

“What happened?” Leah asked, her voice no louder than a whisper. Bram looked up at Leah.

“I met Simon Spier.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long to write, I have a really clear idea of where I want the rest of the story to go but this chapter was just evading me. It took me a while to get Abby and Bram's interactions down, and I hope I did them justice.


	5. What a Good Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from the Barenaked Ladies song.

Bram told them about falling in love with Simon. About three years of watching Simon date girls and silently pine after him. Three years of trying to get up the nerve to talk to Simon beyond asking if he could steal his fries. Three years of dreaming of the day he could run his hands through the perpetual bedhead Simon called a hairstyle. Three years of thinking he was super obvious, what with the staring and blushing, and three years of being grateful Simon was as oblivious as he was (but maybe also a little sad).

When he got to the part of his story where he would have to talk about his alter-ego Blue, he paused, unsure how much of that they already knew from Simon. When he talked about the post he made on Creeksecrets at the beginning of the year, he knew he wasn’t imagining it when he saw Leah flinch (He wasn’t an idiot, there was no way Simon hadn’t at least told her everything about Blue; no way someone in the room wasn’t going to immediately recognize the Tumblr post). And he talked about how Simon – Jacques – had emailed him, and then about emailing Jacques for the months to come. About getting drunk with Simon at Halloween, then blowing it all away when Simon walked in on him with a sexy minion, of all things. About having to figure out being in love with two people at the same time. And about the joy he felt when he realized they were the same person. And about the utter fear when Martin Addison (that fuckwad) outed Simon. He talked about the anxiety that led into a panic attack that left him deleting his e-mail, his only source of contact with Simon, and then curling up and crying on the floor immediately afterwards.

Then Simon made THAT Creeksecrets post.

Make no mistake, Bram had always intended to get on that Ferris Wheel. He was going to be late because, even with Garrett’s help, he couldn’t figure out what to wear for his “I’m Blue” moment. But when they got to the carnival, and Bram saw Simon on the Ferris Wheel, and he saw the crowd of people from school watching, he was hit with another panic attack. Garrett had to sit him down and calm him down. After finally talking him through it, Garrett was able to convince Bram to go to Simon. Which made it all the more heartbreaking when Bram watched the lights on the Ferris Wheel flick off when they got back there. He had missed his chance, and he couldn’t hold himself from breaking down right there.

Bram’s story skipped most of what was left of their senior year, deciding to avoid the deep emotional strife he struggled with by simply stating that he kept to himself more after the carnival. He almost glazed over how at prom, when Bram figured he should put himself out there and take what could be his last chance with Simon, he instead found himself crying in the bathroom after seeing Simon slow dance with Cal. He completely disregarded the summer between high school and university since nothing really happened. He didn’t exactly leave his house all that often anyway, afraid he’d run into Simon AND Cal (yeah, that was a thing. Last he heard, it still was, but then the last he heard was in August, so who knows). Then he left for school in New York.

“And I never saw Simon until he got up on stage tonight,” Bram finishes. He was looking at his hands, fiddling his fingers as he finished what he personally referred to “The Sad Story of Abraham Greenfeld and Why He Shouldn’t Be Trusted Around Boys”. There was a brief moment of uneasy silence as the three other pairs of eyes in the room watched him, until Abby, who was still on the bed beside him reached a tentative hand out and placed it on Bram’s arm. Bram turned to look at her as she gently smiled at him. He let a small smile form on his face in return. Nick was the first one to speak.

“…so the open mic must’ve been SUPER awkward for you.” Leah reached over from where she was sitting on the floor and slapped Nick on the calf, which was the only part she could reach. Bram chuckled.

“Yeah, a little.” He looked Nick in the eye for a little, then went back to looking at his hands.

“Did you get another panic attack?” Bram turned to look at Abby, who’s question was paired with eyes that reflected deep concern. Bram exhaled.

“Sort of. It was more like a very brief episode, nothing like the carnival. Mostly I think it was the shock from suddenly seeing Simon when I wasn’t expecting it.” Abby started rubbing her hand on his forearm. Bram didn’t understand why, but he started to tear up when she did that.

“Hey… hey, it’s okay Bram. It’s going to be okay,” Abby wrapped Bram up in a hug, and he let himself sink into it.

“Are… are you…” Leah, looked around the room, then back to Bram, “You know… Are you going to tell him?”

“No!” Bram said, a little too quickly. Nick and Leah were taken aback by it, and Abby slowly leant out of the hug, leaving a hand in the middle of Bram’s back, “He was so… heartbroken. I did that, and I don’t think… I don’t know how he’ll react but…”

“But you’re afraid he’ll react badly,” Abby finished his sentence for him. Bram felt the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes again, “It’s okay Bram. You don’t have to tell him if you don’t want to.”

“What?” Nick stepped forward, “That’s unfair to Simon!” Abby turned to face Nick.

“So you’d rather have Bram tell Simon, and then have a huge panic attack if Simon tells Bram he hates him? Don’t you remember how Simon was after the carnival?” Abby looked Nick dead in the eyes, “There is no easy answer to this Nick. Honestly, I also think he should tell Simon, but I don’t think I can predict how Simon will take it. Can you?” Nick and Leah, turned to each other and had a silent conversation, the type only best friends can have. Nick then looked down at his shoes and leaned back against the door.

“No,”

“So for now, it’s Bram’s choice,” Abby turned back to Bram, “And I support you all the way.”

“Me too,” Leah added, reaching a hand out and resting it on Bram’s knee. Bram wiped away the tears he was holding back, nodding at the girls.

“I’m always here for you bud,” Nick added. The four of them sat in comfortable silence for a moment.

“Well, now that we’ve gotten the rough emotional stuff out of the way, time to discuss game plan,” Abby said, clapping her hands together and rubbing them conspiratorially.

“Game plan?” Bram asked.

“To get you and Simon together,” Abby said with a huge grin, “Oh come on Bram, don’t tell me you were just gonna go to this party and NOT try to talk to Simon.”

“No,” Bram retorted, “I was going to talk to him.”

“Okay, Bramothy-”

“Abraham.”

“What, pray tell, is your plan? ‘Cause you can’t just wing something like this.” Bram maintained eye contact with Abby, silently letting his mouth open and close as he tried to put together a plan at the last minute, “You’ve got nothing, haven’t you?”

“I’ve got nothing,”

“Well thank god you’ve got the three of us.”

“We can probably get Garrett to help too,” Nick added.

“I don’t know Nick,” Leah turned to look at Nick, “He seems pretty preoccupied with Erica.”

“Excellent point, babe,” Abby said. Leah smiled when her girlfriend called her babe, and Bram couldn’t deny he was a little jealous of how much love there was between them, “So we can’t expect Mr. Laughlin, flirt machine to help. So it’s the three of us.”

“I’m sorry, am I not included in the plan that is about me?” Bram asked jokingly.

“Right… right… wow that was kind of rude of me,” Abby blushed from her flub, “So the four of us. Here’s what I’m thinking. We have another hour to pre-drink before the party, which Simon said isn’t too far away. Clearly, we can’t work that fast, but we can lay the seeds needed to sow the bountiful crop that is…” Abby thought for a second, “SiBram? Is that a good ship name?”

“Works for now,” Leah said, giving her anime-shipper seal of approval, “give me some time I’ll think of something better.”

“Right, so Operation SiBram.”

“OH, SPIERFELD!” Leah shouted excitedly.

“Love it immediately, but babe please remember that this is a stealth mission and requires discretion.”

“Sorry,” Leah whispered, grimacing from her lack of volume control not a minute earlier.

“Operation Spierfeld then. Step one is to make Simon see Bram as a possible love interest.” Abby stuck up her index finger.

“That might be harder than we think, Abby. Don’t forget Simon saw Bram making out with a girl last year,” Nick added.

“An excellent point Nicholas, one that I’ve already taken into account,” Abby turned to Bram and put a hand on his knee, “Bram, this first step might be a little hard.”

“Hard… how?”

“I need you to awkwardly glance at Simon while we’re still here so I can comment on it to him. Think you can handle that?” Bram laughed, and started to slap his knee.

“Trust me, that I can do easily.” Bram chuckled, wiping another tear from his eye.third act

“Oh, perfect then,” Abby said, relaxing, “Okay then, step two. Nick, I need you to talk to Simon about Bram. Keep it vague, like maybe somehow loop in how he’s never had a girlfriend before, or how he always seems weird around Simon.”

“I’m not always weird around Simon…” Bram looked around the room, “Am I?” Nick raises an eyebrow at Bram.

“Dude, you barely ever talked at lunch. We knew you were super weird around my friends.” Bram looks at Nick, a look of horror spreading across his face.

“Oh god does Simon think I don’t like him?” Bram’s heart started beating in his chest. Leah leaned in.

“Actually, we were pretty sure you liked me. Or didn’t like me at all. It was kinda hard to tell, and apparently really off base.”

“Oh,” Bram felt his heart return to normal, “Okay… I don’t, by the way… hate you.”

“Well that’s good to know,” Leah smiled awkwardly at Bram.

“Right, now then. Step 3 is very important. At the party, the three of us,” Abby starts pointing at herself, Leah and Nick, “Need to make sure that Bram and Simon are able to talk, uninterrupted. No distractions! Hopefully, at that point Simon will do the rest of the work himself and then voila!” Abby throws her hands in the air, “You can kiss Simon and then go on dates and live happily ever after.” Bram smiled at Abby.

“You know, in heist movies, the plan usually falls apart in the third act.” He said, letting his smile turn into a shit-eatting grin.

“Well, if everyone sticks to their roles, we should be fine,” Abby smiled back at Bram, then looked at her watch. “Okay, party people, we are down to 45 minutes left to manipulate our best friend into falling for Bram so let’s get a rolling!” Abby got up animatedly. Bram winced.

“Could we, maybe, rephrase that?” Bram looked at Abby, “I don’t wanna think we’re manipulating him.”

“Okay… we have 45 minutes to subtly convince our best friend that you’re someone he should be attracted to.” Bram nodded.

“Better.” Abby smiled, then helped her girlfriend up. Holding Leah by the hand, Abby led her past Nick and out into the living room. Nick turned to Bram.

“You okay, man?” Bram exhaled, then started nodding.

“I think so.” Bram started towards Nick, but Nick stopped him and placed his hands on Bram’s shoulders.

“Hey,” Nick looked Bram in the eye, “Bram, I, uh, I meant it when I said I’m always here for you, you know that right?”

“Yeah Nick, I do,” Bram said with a soft smile. Nick smiled back, then pulled Bram in for a hug. Bram hugged back.

“But if you break Simon’s heart, I will break your legs,” Nick joked, which made Bram let out a light laugh which felt little more than a whisper. Nick pulled out of the hug, “Come on, let’s go get you your dream guy.”

With that, Nick lead Bram back out of the bedroom, and closed the door back behind them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming this fall... Love Heist!  
> They'll steal your heart!
> 
> Thanks to my friend Margaret for beta-ing this chapter!


	6. Send Me on My Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from the Rusted Root song.

It was about five minutes later that Bram felt a buzz from his phone. He was, at the time, vaguely paying attention to something Garrett and Erica were talking about beside him (it was possible they were talking about Scream again, since Garrett just mentioned Drew Barrymore for the third time). He was also doing as Abby had told him to do, awkwardly glancing across the room to Simon. Thrice Simon had caught him looking, each time resulting in Bram trying his best to look away (not too quickly, mind you) and hide the blush that would blossom on his cheeks.

It was during one of these awkward glances that his phone went off.

Digging it out of his pocket, Bram unlocked it to look at whatever it was that had made it go off. A Facebook Messenger icon had appeared in the top right of his home screen. Bram tapped it and was met with a series of notification.

_Abby Suso named the chat Operation Spierfeld_

_Abby Suso set Leah Burke’s nickname to Regulation Hottie_

_Abby Suso set Nick Eisner’s nickname to Christiano Ronaldo_

_Abby Suso set your nickname to Eiffel 95_

_Abby Suso set her nickname to Bi Bi Birdy_

Bram looked over to where Leah and Abby were sitting on the couch. Leah was in the middle of a conversation with Frankie, who was still sitting on the floor. Abby, however, was looking directly at Bram, a wicked grin on her face. Bram looked down at his phone and tapped out a quick message.

_Eiffel 95: Why is this a groupchat, we are literally all in the same room?_

_Eiffel 95: Also, why is my nickname Eiffel 95?_

Bram heard the ding come from Abby’s phone across the room. Bram watched her tap out an answer and looked down at his phone when the first message came through.

_Bi Bi Birdy: Because this way we can keep everyone updated on the plan over the course of the party without weirdly and awkwardly pulling half the group into a bedroom for 15 minutes again._

_Bi Bi Birdy: Thank fuck Simon is oblivious, cause as far as I can tell he didn’t notice that Nick and Leah were gone too._

_Bi Bi Birdy: As for the nickname…_

_Bi Bi Birdy: it’s because you’re Blue_

_Bi Bi Birdy: Da Ba Dee_

_Bi BI Birdy: Da Ba Daa_

Bram sighed (that joke was just… so bad) and looked up at Abby. He tried his best to give her his most done face that he could muster. From across the room, he could see her mouth “love you”. Bram watched as Leah checked her phone. He could see her scroll through the notifications and could tell the exact moment she had caught up; Leah sighed, closed her eyes, then looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. Then she looked back at her phone.

_Regulation Hottie: You are such a dork._

_Christiano Ronaldo: Hey, idiots, stop looking at your phones so we can actually pull this off! Half the party may not be in another room, but now half the party is looking at their fucking PHONES!_

_Regulation Hottie: Sorry_

_Bi Bi Birdy: Sorry_

_Eiffel 95: Sorry_

_Eiffel 95: Wait, I wanted to ask a question_

_Eiffel 95: What happened to Simon and Cal? Last I heard in August they were still together_

_Bi Bi Birdy: Oh, well, Simon doesn’t really talk about it, but they broke up in September._

_Regulation Hottie: My theory is that Cal met someone else._

_Christiano Ronaldo: My theory is that WE SHOULD ALL BE OFF OUR PHONES!_

Bram snickered when he read Nick’s slight outburst on the chat.

“What’s funny?”

Bram jumped, and turned to find Simon really close. Like reaaaaally close. Close enough that Bram was almost certain he had been able to read the group chat specifically about their friends conspiring to get them together, if he so chose to. Bram swallowed.

“Just a joke a friend sent me about one of our professors,” he said, immediately thinking about how absolutely terrible a lie that was. Bram figured Simon was about to call him out on his horrible lying skills. Instead, Simon just chuckled (Bram liked Simon’s chuckle. And his giggle. And his guffaw. In conclusion Simon laughs were the best laughs).

“Good professor or bad professor?”

“Oh, very bad,” Bram smiled at Simon, “He wears the same gray sweater vest every class and once went on a thirty-minute tangent about his daughter’s dance recital.” Simon laughed at that, and Bram’s smile only grew bigger.

“Oof, that’s rough. Doesn’t quite beat my horror story though.” Bram watched Simon’s hand reach up and run itself through Simon’s hair in an attempt to control the unruly locks. It did no such thing, but Bram found he was suddenly struck with the thought of running his own hands through Simon’s hair (again, because really). “I have one drama professor who regularly compares our work to Tarantino movies.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Yeah, well, you say that, but you haven’t heard his 30-minute rant about how A West Side Story was ripped off from Quentin. He refers to him as Quentin, by the way, like they’re friends.” Bram laughs at that.

“He does know that West Side Story is explicitly based on Romeo and Juliet, right?”

“Oh yeah, and that it came out in 1957. That’s a full 6 years before Tarantino was born, by the way.” Bram’s face took on a look of utter confusion.

“And he still thinks it’s a rip off of Tarantino’s work?”

“Yup.”

“…and he’s a qualified professor becaaaaaauuse…?” Simon laughed at that for a solid minute. Bram smiled at Simon. Abby moved past Simon, catching Bram’s eye, as she made her way towards the kitchen for a refill. She looked at Bram and grinned, giving a subtle thumbs-up to Bram, before continuing towards the alcohol.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Simon said once he was able to stop laughing. Simon looked at Bram, his smile changed from a big grin to a small smirk, playing up the left side of his face, and Bram couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat or ten because Shy Simon is one cute motherfucker. “You know this might be the longest we’ve ever actually had a conversation. Aside from Halloween of course.” Bram winced at the reminder of Halloween, and no matter how oblivious Simon was, he was sure Simon had seen it.

“Yeah Halloween was… was a mess,” Bram looked down at his shoes as the hand that wasn’t holding his beer bottle fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

“Ha, you don’t have to tell me twice,” Simon took a sip of his drink and Bram’s gaze dropped for a second to Simon’s lips around the rim of his cup and watched how Simon’s mouth parted ever so slightly, “Don’t forget you weren’t the only on that sang ‘As Long As You Love Me’.”

“Right,” Bram said as he felt a blush rising in his cheeks again. In an attempt to hide the redness in his cheeks, Bram went to take a sip from the beer in his hand, lifting his beer to his own mouth only to find that he’d finished it already. “Hey, I’m gonna go get another beer, you want anything?” Simon looked down at the drink in hand.

“Nah, I think I’m good for now. Thanks though,” Simon smiled at Bram, and Bram nodded.

“S’all good,” Bram said, then headed towards the kitchen. As he crossed the living room, he pulled his phone out.

_Eiffel 95: Alright Abby, Nick, you guys are up!_

_Bi Bi Birdy: On it! I’ll grab the hetero so we can go preach the Gospel of Bramothy._

_Christiano Ronaldo: I feel attacked._

_Regulation Hottie: You should._

Bram chuckled to himself as he opened the fridge and slid his phone back into his pocket. He grabbed another beer bottle, closed the door, and twisted the bottle open. He turned to leave only to come face-to-face with Frankie. Startled by her sudden appearance Bram jumped back, splattering droplets of beer on himself.

“Fuck! Jesus, you can’t sneak up on someone like that!” Bram took a swig of the beer to calm his very suddenly startled nerves.

“Sorry. I move very quietly,” Frankie shrugged, “I was just coming here for a refill.” She haphazardly pointed at the fridge behind Bram. Bram nodded, and shimmied to the left so Frankie could get at the cranberry juice Bram had seen in the fridge door. Frankie shied past him and opened the fridge. “So, what was up with you and the others in the bedroom?”

“Huh?” Bram nearly choked on his beer.

“You know, you and Simon’s friends. You guys were in his bedroom for a while.” Bram could feel himself sweating, as if he was the source for all cartoon interpretations of bad liars, and he hadn’t even lied yet.

“Oh, just catching up,” and there’s the lie. Well, sort of, Bram figured they had KIND OF in a way been catching up. It was just, a more focused catch-up.

“Huh, cool,” was all Frankie said as she made her vodka-cran, and Bram was quickly reminded of just how disinterested in everything Frankie seemed to be. Bram heard a phone buzz and was about to check his when Frankie pulled hers out, opened it, and read whatever had just come in. And Bram swore he saw her smile. Like actually smile.

“Cute dog meme?” asked Bram.

“Uh, no,” Frankie shook her head, trying (badly) to conceal another smile, “It’s just this guy I’ve been seeing. It’s kinda new, but I dunno. I like him,”

“Oh,” Bram said. He nodded and looked around the kitchen, then turned back to Frankie “You should invite him out tonight.”

“What?”

“Yeah, get the address of the party from Simon and tell him to meet us there. Trust me, parties are so much better when you spend it with someone you like a lot,” Bram took a sip from his beer, “Just don’t fuck it up and kiss a minion.”

Frankie’s eyebrows furrowed at that last comment, but she nodded as she took in the rest of Bram’s advice.

"You really think I should?”

“Why not? What’s the worst that could happen?” Bram shrugged as he said that last part. Frankie smiled again.

“Yeah, what’s the worst?” She looked down at her phone, then back up at Bram, “Um, thanks, Bram.”

“No sweat. What’s the point of making mistakes if others don’t learn from them?” With that, Bram took another sip of his beer and left the kitchen. The first thing he saw was Simon talking with Abby and Nick. Well, Abby and Nick seemed to be doing most of the talking, rather animatedly too. Simon for the most part, was just nodding along. Then Simon turned to see Bram standing there, and before Bram could turn away Simon blushed as his eyes darted down and back towards Abby and Nick. Maybe this plan will work. If only he knew what Abby and Nick were actually saying.

Bram was startled again, this time by Leah sliding in beside him. Again, his arm jerked upwards sending small drops of beer flying into the air and down onto his arm.

“What is it with these floorboards? This is Brooklyn for god sake!”

“What?” Leah turned to Bram in confusion.

“Nothing, just… nothing,” Bram subtly pointed towards the rest of Operation Spierfeld across the room. “What are they saying?”

“As far as I could tell they were mostly sticking to the script. ‘Bram’s a pretty cool guy you know’, ‘Isn’t it weird how quiet he usually is around us?’, ‘How is it, do you think, that someone as hot as Bram hasn’t had a single girlfriend?’”

“Hot? I mean, I don’t know if I’d call me ho-“

“You’re hot, Bram. I’m not going to hold your hand through your ugly duckling awakening, so I’m just going to tell you that you gotta accept it,” Leah smirked, then turned back to the party. “So what were you and Frankie talking about in the kitchen?”

“Oh, I was just giving her relationship advice.” Leah slowly turned to look at Bram, a very blank look playing across her face.

“Bram, Bramothy as I’ve been told to refer to you-“

“Dammit Abby,”

“Is the purpose of this whole operation not to help you out because have no game?”

“Well you know what they say, those who can’t do teach,” Bram chuckled at his own joke as Leah rolled her eyes. “I have some game.”

“Not where it matters,”

"Harsh, Leah. Very harsh,” Bram looked over at Garrett and watched as he continued to laugh at something Erica said, “You know, the only reason I came out tonight was to help that doofus get the girl,” Leah looked where Bram was looking and chuckled.

“Oh how the turn tables, Bramothy!” Leah looked up at Bram, “You know, some people would say it was fate that you were in that café tonight.”

“Would those same people call it fate that I left Simon in the lurch like that?” Bram looked back at Leah. She shrugged.

“Maybe,” she put her hand on his shoulder, “Maybe not. But who cares what other people think right? Just so long as the right person thinks highly of you, that’s all that matters.” Bram looked down at Leah and smiled. He’d hug her, but she isn’t a huggy person, so that would make their tender moment weird. Bram looked across the room again and found Simon’s eyes again. Simon didn’t look away, and neither did Bram, and they silently smiled at each other from across the party.

And for a while, there was only them, as everything else fell away. Then a ringing went off, and Simon looked down at his phone.

“Alright people, time to go. Chug your drinks, get your shoes, and get out of my apartment! Let’s roll out!” Simon took his cup up to his mouth and finished off the last dregs of his drink. Bram followed suit and pulled Leah over to where Abby and Nick were.

“So, where we at?”

“I think we’re all set. The rest is on you buddy!” Nick clapped Bram on the shoulder. Bram smiled.

“Thanks guys. I hope this works out.”

“Me too, Bramothy. We’ve got your back if something goes wrong,” Abby hugged Bram, then grabbed her girlfriend and directed her towards their shoes. Bram and Nick followed, and Bram saw Simon and Frankie talking out the corner of his eye. Simon was nodding and smiling as Frankie talked. He heard Simon say an address. Frankie then thanked Simon and walked over to Erica and Garrett. Bram smiled; even if it didn’t work out with Simon tonight, hopefully he’s at least helped Frankie out.

Bram sat down on a chair by the front door and started slipping his shoes on, then felt a presence standing beside him. He looked up and saw Simon standing there.

“Hey,” Simon said shyly, scuffing one foot against the other, “I don’t know if I said it earlier, but I’m really happy you were there tonight…”

“I, umm… I’m glad I was there too,” Bram had completely forgotten that he needed to tie his shoes because fuck me, right? Simon’s being an adorable dork again and if that didn’t make Bram lose all brain function then he’d have no kryptonite and really, would he have been human? “I’m also glad you invited me out. I mean, you invited Garrett and Erica and Frankie too, but I’m glad I was someone else you invited… out…” God that wasn’t even a coherent sentence. How in the heavenly fuck did one boy do this to him every time? Simon quietly laughed.

“If I’m being honest, if I had to choose only one person to bring to this party, I think I’d choose you,”

FuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUCKing HELL, Simon was flirting with Bram. Bram coughed on literally nothing.

“Not even Leah?” Bram smirked, “Not even-” Bram stopped when he realized what he was about to say. Simon, or rather Jacques, had told Blue that he’d never told anyone else about his Daniel Radcliffe phase. Quick, he needed a second way out… “Not even Blue?” Well that was the worst possible option, now wasn’t it? Simon’s soft eyes hardened at the mention of Bram’s alterego, then almost they softened again almost instinctively.

“We should get going.” Simon smiled lightly, but Bram saw the sadness behind that smile. Simon headed towards the front door and started herding the rest of the group out the door. Bram hurriedly put on his shoes, then sped over. He was the last one out, and Simon locked the door behind him. When Simon turned back around, he and Bram found themselves face-to-face, very close to each other, and Bram realized he could just kiss him now. Call it a night. But he couldn’t move, because there was a slight chance he’d just fucked it all up. Simon slipped past him to the front of their group and led everyone down the stairs. Bram was the last to follow and found Garrett had stayed back a bit. Garrett swung an arm over Bram’s shoulder.

"Hey buddy, you doing okay? I know I haven’t really been checking up on you tonight.”

“No, it’s okay. Don’t worry about me, Abby’s been doing your job tonight.” Bram smirked at Garrett.

“You sure? If it’s too much we could head home now.” Bram considered it, but as they pushed through the front door of the building out into the night, he caught sight of Simon looking at him, eyes shining in the streetlight, a small flick in the corner of his mouth. Bram smiled at Simon, then turned back to Garrett.

“No, I’m good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you to Margaret for being my Beta-reader for this chapter  
> And thanks to you guys, the loyal readers, for coming back chapter after chapter. I think we are at the half way mark for this fic, so buckle up buttercup because we've got a ways to go still.


	7. Something To Talk About

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from the Bonnie Raitt song.

“Spier, what is up?” A guy standing outside the door of the party brought Simon into a bro-hug, awkward back pat and all. Bram briefly took in the old brownstone building before him, flashing lights emanating from every window in the three-story house. Bram was able to make out some an NYU flag hanging from one of the windows on the third floor.

“Not much, Conner, not much!” Simon pulled himself out of the bro-hug.

“How did your open mic night go?” Conner crossed his arms in front of himself and Bram was vaguely able to make out a tattoo on his forearm, part of it poking out from under the rolled-up cuff of his flannel.

“Pretty good, actually. Ran into a few more of my friends there, actually.” Simon absentmindedly pointed back towards Garrett and Bram, and Conner’s eyes followed.

“Yeah, I see that,” he said with a smirk. He turned back to Simon, “Well, admission is still $10 a pop,” Bram looked over at Simon, his brow furrowing. Simon hadn’t said anything about admission. Before he could ask about it, Simon had already pulled his wallet out and was pulling bills out.

“20, 40, 60, 80. There ya go” Simon put the bills into Conner’s hand. “Oh, we have another person showing up a little later.”

“Well, so long as they have ten dollars, they’re good to go,” Conner said with a smirk. Simon flashed him a thumbs-up. Simon turned back to their group.

“Shall we?”

“Yes we fucking shall!” Abby said as she led the charge up the stairs to the front door, pulling Leah behind her. Nick sighed and followed the girls into what sounded like a pretty jumping party. Simon turned to Frankie.

"Make sure your friend brings money for admission,”

“Already told him,” Frankie said as she passed him, not looking up from what she was texting to her “friend”. Erica followed her, with Garrett close behind. And suddenly, the only people on the stairs outside were Simon, Bram, and Conner the admissions guy. Simon smiled awkwardly at Bram. Bram motioned towards the door.

“After you,” he said, and Simon grabbed the hand he’s motioned with. Bram found himself being pulled up the stairs and into the party, and as he passed Conner they made eye contact and he was certain, very certain, that Conner had mouthed “Good luck” to him.

Inside, Bram took what little chance he had to look around. Simon had pulled him into some sort of foyer and looking up Bram saw that the ceiling was all the way up at the third floor, and there were people laughing and leaning against the railing on the second and third floors. To the left was a living room where people were playing drinking games. To the right, a dining room where the table had been used to set up Beirut (Bram had never had an acid flashback before, but he was certain it felt something like this). Attached to the dining room, but towards the back of the house, Bram was able to make out a kitchen, where someone in a sports tank top and ill-fitting jeans was doing a keg stand.

“What the hell is this place?” Bram said, pulling himself closer with the hand Simon grabbed so Simon could hear him. Simon turned back to him and leaned into Bram’s ear so Bram could hear over the pounding coming from the speaker placed very close to them.

“It’s a frat house, I’m friends with some of the brothers. It’s their fall semester kegger,” Bram nodded. He’d only been in a frat house once when Garret had dragged him out at Halloween. That night had gone terribly. Bram was desperately hoping he wouldn’t repeat that. Simon looked around the house before turning back to Bram, “I can’t seem to see the others, can you?” Bram looked around, unable to make out most of the faces he was seeing in the party.

“No, can’t see them. Maybe call Abby?” Simon nodded at Bram’s suggestion, and pulled his phone out. He tapped it a few times before holding it up to his ear. After a moment of silence, Simon started yelling into it.

“ABBY! WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU, WHERE DID YOU GUYS GO?” Simon shook his head, then smirked at Bram “WE’LL TRY TO FIND YOU! DON’T GO ANYWHERE!” Simon hung up then looked at Bram. “I guess we gotta find them the hard way.”

***

“SIMON? SIMON WHAT DID YOU SAY?” Garrett watched as Abby hung up the phone. Then, their entire group turned to watch as Simon and Bram smiled at each other. When Simon grabbed Bram’s hand and pulled him up the stairs, Garrett heard Leah let out a soft sigh. When there was no way either of them could notice them, Garrett turned to Nick.

"Okay, why are we not telling Simon and Bram where we are?”

“So that they get some… alone time...” Nick wiggled his eyebrows as he said that, and Erica snorted. Leah smacked his arm, causing Nick to yelp and start rubbing the spot on his arm where he’d been assaulted. “It’s all part of Operation Spierfeld.”

“I’m sorry, Operation what?” Garrett looked from Nick to Abby, then Leah. The three of them started looking between one another, then Abby turned back to Garrett.

“Sooo… we may be implementing a three-step plan to help Simon and Bram… get together.”

“And by ‘we may be’, do you mean ‘we are’?” Garrett’s tone changed, taking on something sinister. He noted he sounded like his mother whenever she lectured him. Garret filed that (terrifying) thought away in the deep recesses of his mind.

“Possibly…” Abby said, a small smile playing at her lips as she glanced down at her shoes.

“And what, pray tell, gave you guys this idea?” Garrett knew Bram wasn’t closeted anymore, but he still wanted to figure out just how much they knew. And how they had found out. Because if they knew, then maybe Simon knew, and oh god Garrett had to prepare himself for the chance that Simon broke Bram’s heart tonight. He knew he should’ve stocked up on Ben and Jerry’s yesterday.

“Because Bram told us he was Blue,” it was Leah who spoke this time, and while her girlfriend was being sheepish about this exchange, Leah stood her ground looking Garrett in the eye. Garrett sputtered.

“He… he told you he… was Blue?”

“Yup,” Leah nodded.

“So… Bram’s in on this?” Garrett asked. Leah nodded. Garrett started nodding back. “Okay… okay… but if something goes wrong-”

“Garrett, the plan is foolproof,” Nick said as he patted Garrett on the back. “We’re already on step three.”

“Which is?” Erica asked, clearly heavily interested in the soap opera dramatics that were unfolding in front of her.

“Just run interference during the party, help them spend time together. Simon basically falls in love every guy he talks to so… just give it time,” Nick said, shrugging, then looking around, “Hey, anyone know where to get a beer?”

“The kitchen, I guess?” Abby asked, “I mean, it is a kegger.”

“Probably. Anyone else want one, I’m getting them,” Nick said as he started walking towards the kitchen. Garrett, Abby and Erica all stated they wanted them. As Nick walked towards the kitchen to get four beers, Garrett caught sight of Bram up on the second floor, leaning against the bannister overlooking the foyer and talking with Simon. He was smiling, and Garrett couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Bram smile like that.

I really hope this doesn’t go south, Garrett thought to himself.

***

“How the hell have you been in New York this long and NOT been in Times Square? It was like the first thing I did when I got here!” Simon asked as Bram chuckled into the red Solo cup he was clutching.

“I don’t know, I just… never think to go.”

“But it’s on your bucket list, right?”

“Well yeah-”

“Then you should go!” Simon’s arms exploded upwards into the air to further emphasize how important it was that Bram do this, “And you should go at night! It’s nice during the day but at night, gosh it’s so pretty.”

“Well, I don’t know if Garrett wants to go, and I’m not sure if I’d want to go alone.” Bram took a sip of his beer as Simon pondered the situation.

“Then I’ll go with you,” he said, a wide grin forming on his lips. Bram nearly choked on his beer.

"You will?”

“Yeah, I’d love to,” Simon smiled at Bram, “Hell, I will personally help you cross off everything on your New York bucket list. What else is there?”

“Well, I want to do the giant piano in FAO Schwartz”

“Ah, a classic. What're you thinking of play, Chopsticks?”

“No, I was thinking of doing Still D.R.E.” Bram said, then erupted into giggles as Simon snorted.

“Yes! Please do that!” Simon put his hand on the bannister next to Bram’s and Bram became immediately aware how close their fingers were to each other and how close they were to touCHING! “So that’s two, very easy things to do on the Bram Greenfield NYCBL. What else you got for me?”

“Do you really expect me to believe NYCBLY is a commonly used acronym?”

“No, but I’ll make it work,” Simon joked, and Bram chuckled in response before thinking about the informal list he’d made himself.

“Well, I want to take in a show at the Apollo,” Bram took a sip, and wiped away what felt like a foam stache that had formed on his upper lip, “My mom said she had seen Lauryn Hill there once, so she told me I had better check it out or else she’d disown me,” Simon chuckled, “I want to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade at least once, but that one might be hard unless I stay here instead of go home for Thanksgiving but, again, afraid I might be disowned if I skip a family holiday… I want to go to Coney Island… I want to go to the New York Botanical Garden but that might have to wait until the spring… I have more but I can’t really think of them right now.” Bram took a sip of his beer.

“You sure aren’t going to make it easy for me to help you cross those off, are you?”

“Would it help if I actually wrote them down?” Bram joked. Simon thought about it, then nodded.

“It would actually. You know, to have a physical thing so that you can just cross out when you’ve done something on it.”

“Alright, Mr. Bucket List, how many of yours have you done?” Bram took another sip to hide the inexplicable blush he felt after he asked Simon that. Maybe it was calling him Mr. Bucket List because that might be the WORST attempt at flirting he’s ever done.

Nope, actually it is not. Far from it. Still bad, but not the worst.

“I’ve actually got most of them done. All that I have left are go to the NYC pride parade and… kiss someone on top of the Empire State Building.”

“Oh,” was all Bram could say.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s just like… another tall building, you know, so visiting it wasn’t that big for me. But then I saw Sleepless in Seattle and I just… I want to have my romantic moment there, you know?”

“I… I totally get it…” Bram said. Then, and Bram knows he wasn’t imagining this, Simon’s fingers got closer to his on the bannister. Bram looked from the fingers up into Simon’s eyes. Simon was smiling at him.

“Glad to know I don’t sound like a lovesick lunatic,” Simon said with a chuckle, and Bram felt that heat return to his cheeks.

***

At some point, Garret wasn’t sure when, Abby and Leah and ventured off on their own. With no explanation of their whereabouts to go on, Garrett was sure they had either a) found a couch on of the floors of this massive frat house to make out on or b) gone off to spy on Bram and Simon. He was relatively certain that it was the second one, as Nick was regularly pulling his phone out to read texts. Garrett was actually happy he hadn’t been involved in Operation Spierfeld. He’d be a bundle of nerves if he knew what was happening.

While Abby and Leah had gone spying, Garrett had stayed on the first floor with Erica, Nick and Frankie; partly because of their proximity to the front door so Frankie’s “friend” (Garrett noted that Erica always referred to the mystery man as a friend with finger quotations, much to Frankie’s annoyance) could find them easily, and partly because this way there was no way they could run into Bram and Simon (so long as they stayed above the first floor).

“It’s really cool that you guys are still so close,” Erica said, “Honestly I haven’t talked to any of my high school friends other than Frankie since the end of summer.”

“Well, Simon and I have been close since kindergarten, and we’ve been best friends with Leah since middle school. It’s going to take more than going to different schools to tear us apart,” Nick joked. Erica smiled at Nick, then turned to Garrett.

“How long have you and Bram been friends?”

“Since Bram moved to Shady Creek in freshman year,” Garrett smiled thinking back on when he first met Bram, “Shady Creek isn’t that big, there’s only one middle school and one high school. So, everyone that goes to the middle school ends up going to the high school. Which was why, first day of freshman year, everyone was so confused because there was this kid no one had ever seen before. And everyone already their friend groups from middle school, so at lunchtime this poor kid, who no one knew, ended up sitting alone at lunch. And it wasn’t like he was alone at a small table, he had somehow ended up alone at a table for like 8 people. No one else was sitting there. So I went up, sat across from him, and said hi.” Garrett chuckled, “I may have also stolen some of his fries.” Erica laughed, and Garrett felt his heart race. Frankie’s phone went off behind Erica, and she quickly tapped out something.

“He’s here, so I’m gonna go get him and bring him back so he doesn’t get lost in all this,” Frankie motioned with her arms to the large crowds of people milling about the house.

“Alright, go get your “friend”,” Erica said, putting up air quotes again around friend. Frankie smacked her arm, but Garrett could make out that she was blushing. As Frankie disappeared into the crowds, Erica and Garrett turned back to Nick, their backs to where Frankie had gone.

“God, she’s going to kill me if I do that again,” Erica joked.

“Oh, that’s nothing,” Garrett said, “When Bram told me he had a crush on Simon, I must’ve tormented him about it at least three times a day until the carnival.”

“Why until the carnival?” Erica asked, her smile unfaltering as she looked between Garrett and Nick. Nick flashed Garrett a look, and Garrett could tell neither of them knew exactly how much to share about Simon and Bram’s… love life.

“Let’s just say something happened at the carnival that shouldn’t have, and something that should’ve didn’t.” Garrett said. He looked back at Erica, and he could tell she understood that this was not really something to talk about. Not yet, anyways. Nick laughed awkwardly.

“Besides, if Garrett thinks he tormented Bram, he didn’t even see half of what the three of us did when Simon started dating FUCK!” Nick’s eyes had shot wide open, and he was focused on something just past Garrett. Before Garrett could turn around to see whatever had shaken Nick like that, Nick abruptly continued, “By fuck, I clearly meant… phoque… which is French… for seal…” Garrett’s brow furrowed, and Erica had an amused smile on her face. “Yeah, he started dating a seal handler at the zoo.”

“…what?” was all Garrett could say.

“I found him,” a familiar voice came from behind Garrett. Garrett turned around to see Frankie pulling someone through a particularly dense crowd of people near the kitchen. When the person at the other end managed to get out of the crowd, a single thought came into Garrett’s mind.

Phoque.

***

“Well clearly Cyndi Lauper is the superior songstress,” Bram said, causing Simon to scoff. “Oh really Simon, you’re going to do that to the woman who gave us Time After Time AND All Through the Night?”

“I am, and I always will, because there is no way Cyndi Lauper is better than Celine Dion, okay? Celine did the theme for Titanic, for Christ’s sake.”

“And Cyndi Lauper did it for The Goonies, what’s your point?” Bram asked as his face contorted into one of mock criticism. Simon laughed, and as Simon laughed, Bram noticed Abby and Leah across from them, leaning against another bannister. Bram could tell Abby was trying to hear what it is they were talking about.

“Look, there’s an easy way to solve this,” Simon said, causing Bram to turn back to Simon. “We listen to both of their covers of I Drove All Night, back-to-back.” Bram laughed. He felt his phone buzz again, for what must be the tenth time in the half hour since he and Simon had been talking. He pulled it out and saw that there were 8 notifications in the groupchat.

“One sec, Simon, my dad texted me and if I don’t respond he’ll drive up here to kick my ass,” Bram lied.

“No problem-o, I totally get it.” Simon smiled, and took a sip of his beer. Bram unlocked his phone.

_Bi Bi Birdy: Okay, we’ve found them on the second floor. Leah and I are gnna spy on them._

_Bi Bi Birdy: They appear to be talking about New York stuff?_

_Bi Bi Birdy: Okay now they’re talking about living away from Shady Creek._

_Bi Bi Birdy: Bram just said something really funny and Simon is digging it, way to go bb_

_Bi Bi Birdy: SIMON JUST TOUCHED HIS HAND ON THE RAILING HOLY FUCK YES! YEEEESSS!_

_Bi Bi Birdy: Bram, sweetie, you’re doing amazing!_

_Bi Bi Birdy: Oh my god they’re literally arguing over who’s better, Cyndi Lauper or Celine Dion. Honestly, how did we not realize they were gay sooner?_

_Christiano Ronaldo: WE HAVE APROBLEM!!!1!!!_

Bram looked up at Simon, who was distracted by something happening on the first floor. Bram looked across the foyer at Abby and Leah, who were also reading Nick’s latest all caps addition to the group chat. He and Leah exchanged a confused glance. Then Bram responded.

_Eiffel 95: Nick, you’re going to have to be more specific than just “We have a problem”_

“Hey, I’m going to be right back,” Simon said, pulling Bram out of his phone. Fuck, had he spent too long and now Simon thought he wasn’t interested? Simon was still fixated on something happening downstairs. “I just need to umm… check on something…” Simon trailed off as he backed away from Bram and started towards the stairs. Bram shoved his phone in his pocket and, in an attempt to rectify the situation, followed Simon towards the stairs. He felt his phone buzz, but didn’t bother to look at it, not even as he heard Abby fully yell “FUCK!” at the top of her lungs while Bram chased Simon down the stairs.

At the base of the stairs, Bram momentarily lost track of Simon. Scanning the first floor, he was able to spot him approaching Garrett and Nick. Bram could see Nick’s face, and Nick did not have his usual cool, relaxed demeanor. Nick was nervous. Beside Garrett and Nick were Erica and Frankie, and someone else. A guy standing next to Frankie. He couldn’t tell who they were, because they had their back to Bram, but he seemed weirdly familiar. Maybe he’d just seen him somewhere in New York before, maybe they shared a class. Simon was approaching this new guy, who Bram suspected was Frankie’s mystery guy. Bram watched as Simon lightly touched the guy on the shoulder, and Mr. Mystery Guy turned around to face Simon and Bram immediately recognized him.

Mr. Mystery Guy was Cal fucking Price.

“Oh come the fuck ON!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again to Margaret for beta-reading this chapter. Seriously guys, she's a champ, and honestly here play-by-play as she reads each chapter is one of the best things in this world.
> 
> And to all of you who correctly guessed Frankie's new "friend" was going to be Cal, I hate you all. I don't actually, but y'all made me reconsider and at one point I considered having it be Martin (MARTIN!?) and I can never get that idea out of my head.


	8. Ex-Factor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from the Lauryn Hill song
> 
> My guys, my d00ds, due to an unforeseen heat wave that made me and Margaret melt, this chapter is UNEDITTED!!! But because I wrote it last weekend, I wanted to give you guys something to read until it is editted (I'll say something when it's done) and until the next chapter is out. It's a bit of a mess as well as a bit short, but enjoy.
> 
> [EDIT]: WE DONE BEEN BETA'D, BABES!! (Thanks Margaret, you absolute wonder)

When Cal had shown up, Garrett had been hoping, PRAYING, that Simon would stay the fuck away. But oh look, here he comes. Garrett casually glanced to Nick beside him, who’s face had been plastered in a state of anxious panic since he’d seen Cal enter the party. Nick, upon having caught wind of Garrett looking at him, looked up at Garrett. Garrett was hoping his side eye was en pointe.

“Cal?”

Simon had managed to make it through the throngs of people and tapped Cal (FUCKING) Price on the shoulder. Cal turned to look at Simon.

“Oh, Simon… hey…”

“Hey… how, um, how’ve you been?” There was a nervousness in the air.

“I’ve, uh, I’ve been good.” Cal smiled weakly.

“Good…. Good, that’s, that’s good.” Simon nodded as he spoke. Garrett needed to look anywhere else. However, scanning the party was not that good a substitute. Within seconds, he found Bram standing at the foot of the stairs, watching Simon and Cal. Garrett could see that Bram was, unmistakably, heartbroken.

Suddenly, Abby and Leah came crashing down the stairs. They brushed past Bram, who looked more like a statue than a partygoer, and raced over to the group.

"Cal! Oh my god, hi!” Abby immediately placed herself in between Simon and Cal and grabbed him in a hug. Leah followed suit, and Simon backed up to give them space between himself and Cal. Garrett chuckled. Smooth move Suso, he thought to himself. Garrett’s eyes found Bram again as he took a sip of his beer. Bram, whose face had been total heartbreak before, had steeled himself. Bram made eye contact with Garrett and nodded. Then Bram walked across the room.

***

“Cal, hey.” Bram patted Cal on the back. Cal turned to look at Bram.

“Hey, Bram. Good to see you. How’ve you been.”

“Oh, not bad” Bram said, you know, like a liar.

“That’s good to hear,” Cal smiled at Bram, and Bram faked a smile back. It’s not like he hated Cal, cause honestly Cal had done nothing wrong. He just… WHY? WHY OH GOD WHY?!

“What are you doing here?” Abby said, her tone a mix of curiosity and confusion. Cal turned to Frankie, who had her hands in her pockets beside him.

“Ummm, Frankie invited me.” He said nervously. “How, um, how do you guys know Frankie?”

“We met her tonight,” Leah cut in, “She’s friends with Erica who is friends with Garrett” At the mention of her name, Erica shyly put her hand up and waved. Garrett did the same at the mention of his name, and Nick reached up at forced it back down.

“He knows who you are Garrett.”

“I know, it just seemed like fun,” Garrett muttered before taking another sip of beer. Bram noticed Erica snort, followed by a bright red tinge on Garrett’s cheeks.

“So Frankie invited you?” Abby asked.

“I mean, Simon said it would be fine,” Frankie said, “And it was Bram’s idea really.” Frankie smiled innocently at Bram. Bram however, started to sweat as he felt four pairs of eyes turn and bore into him.

“Is that so?” he heard Leah say, trying hard not to give away how she and the rest of Operation Spierfeld felt about this. Bram could do nothing but nod in agreement.

“I was just… giving some advice…”

“Uh-huh,” Abby snorted. Bram felt his throat close a bit.

“Hey, I’m gonna go get a re-fill in the kitchen, anyone wanna come. Simon?” Bram looked over at Simon. Simon looked back at Bram, then back at Cal, then back to Bram.

“Sure,” he said, then walked with Bram into the kitchen. When they were far enough away that the others couldn’t hear, Bram turned to Simon.

“Hey, you okay? I mean, I don’t know much about… you and Cal… but like, you good?” Bram nervously bit his bottom lip a bit while Simon didn’t look over at him. Then Simon turned to him.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good. What about you? You okay?” Simon asked. Bram’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Am I okay?”

"Yeah, I was getting a weird vibe back there. Do you not like Cal or something?” Simon’s eyes probed Bram’s face as Bram tried to work out an answer.

“What? No, I don’t not like Cal. Cal’s great,” Bram quickly realized he was hyping up Cal's image, “But like, nobody’s GREAT. Like I’m sure he has his issues but from what I can tell he’s… cool…” Smooth, Casanova, real smooth. Simon chuckled, then reached over to get some new cups.

"Cal’s actually pretty well adjusted for a teenager,” Simon said as he filled up the first cup and passed it to Bram. “He’s actually pretty awesome.”

“Oh,” Bram said, then looked down at the cup in his hand. Without thinking it through, Bram decided to break one of his rules for the night: he took the full cup of beer and chugged it right there in the kitchen. When he was done, Simon was holding his own still full cup, a look of fear and awe washed over his face.

“…wow,” Simon said, “that was… fast.”

“Garrett makes me keep my chug time low, for some reason,” Bram said with a burp, “I think he wants us to try out for a frat next year but I don’t know, I’m not big on frats,” Bram turns to see a big guy standing behind him wearing a snapback and Oakleys, “No offense,” he says to the anonymous bro and turns back to Simon, who’s smiling at Bram.

“You’re just full of surprises,” He says, “It's a shame you were so quiet in high school.”

“Yup, real shame,” Bram says quietly, then refills his cup. Before he has a chance to drink from it, Abby comes rushing into the kitchen.

“Simon, Bram, Beirut now!”

“Oh I don’t know-“ Simon starts to say, but Bram, willed on by alcohol and a need to one-up Cal (which can probably also be traced back to alcohol), grabs Simon’s hand and starts walking towards Abby.

“Let’s do this!” He yells, causing a bunch of man-children to whoop like howler monkeys in the distance. Abby follows Bram and Simon into the room where the Beirut table is set up. Bram pulls Simon to one end of the table, while Nick and Garrett are huddled at the other end.

“You sure you want to do this?” Simon asked Bram. Bram turned to look at Simon.

“We are the dream team, remember? Undefeated champs!”

“Yeah,” Simon chuckled, “But in our only game we went up against Martin, who, among other things, is even more uncoordinated than I am.” Bram put his cup down then drunkenly grabbed Simon’s face with both hands.

“Simon, we got this! We are the dream, TEAM!” Simon laughed softly, “Come on Simon, say it with me,”

“We are the dream team,”

“LOUDER!”

“WE ARE THE DREAM TEAM!” Simon shouted, laughing looking Bram right in the eyes. God, it would be so easy for Bram to lean in and just kiss him on the lips, but no, NO, this is a science. No rushing science. Bram released Simon’s face, and patted his shoulder.

“That’s what I like to hear,” He turned back to Nick and Garrett, “Now, are we here to throw some balls in cups or WHAT?!”

It was, surprisingly, a close game. It was also a long game, which made a pretty large crowd gather around what Bram heard referred to as “The most intense game of beer pong ever”. Even thought Bram felt himself getting progressively drunker over the course of the game, he was still doing pretty well, and Simon was getting enough balls in that the uncoordinated comment felt out of place.

Eventually, however, Bram couldn’t stop focusing on how Cal was over to the side. And even though Cal had one of his arms over Frankie’s shoulders (she had nearly yelped in excitement from the touch), he saw Simon regularly looking over at Cal out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly a ball landed in a cup right in front of Bram, and Nick let out a shout.

“Drink it up, Greenfeld!” Bram picked up the cup, and when he saw Simon looking over at Cal again, he chugged the contents. When he finished, the crowd let out a cheer while Garrett watched Bram with a look of concern. Bram knew he didn’t drink this much, but come on Garrett, it’s a party. Relax! God knows Bram was trying to.

The final point was scored by Simon, eyes closed, with his left hand, in what Bram felt was an attempt to impress Cal. Nick erupted into cheers.

“I’M NOT EVEN MAD THAT WAS AWESOME!” He shouted across the room as someone (It looked like the same Oakleys guy from the kitchen) grabbed Simon by his middle and lifted him off the ground. People were going insane over the amazing shot that had won the game. The big guy put Simon back down, and Simon turned to Bram.

“That was epic!” Bram said, pulling Simon into a hug. God, Simon’s hair smells amazing, like… is that lavender? Bram became aware he was in the hug for a little too long, then pulled himself out of it. Bram looked around and realized he’s lost track of most of their group. He could see Erica consoling Garrett for his loss, and Nick was talking to some guys about the most insane game of Beirut they had ever seen. Suddenly, some girl came and grabbed Bram and Simon by the hands.

“You two, come with me, you guys are perfect!” The girl led them upstairs past throngs of people chatting on the stairs and into a room were a bunch of people were sitting on the floor. “Get two more guys here! We should be good.” That’s when Bram spotted the bottle in the middle of the room. What is this, middle school?

Then he spotted Cal and Frankie sitting on the other side of the floor, Abby and Leah beside them. Simon must have seen Cal too, because Bram was sure Simon had stopped breathing for a second. Slowly, they stepped towards the only two empty spots in the circle. They sat down, and the girl who led them in sat herself down beside Bram.

“Okay, rules are simple. We spin the bottle one at a time, and whoever the bottle lands on, you gotta kiss them for 10 seconds, got it?” She looked around the room, “No backing out after you’ve spun the bottle, deal with what’s dealt to you.” With that she spun the bottle and kissed some guy across the room from her.

The next guy to go was the guy on the other side of her, and Bram breathed a sigh of relief that he’d go last. For the entire first round, the bottle never landed on him or Simon. It did, however, land on Abby a handful of times, which Leah seemed to be taking in stride. Cal’s spin landed on Frankie, making her entire face go beet red and make a sound that Bram thought was supposed to be a nervous laugh but sounded more like a goose getting strangled by a toddler.

Abby spun the bottle and it landed on Leah. Leah joyfully leaned over and kissed her girlfriend. The quick peck turned into an emotional kiss. Then it became a full make out session in front of them. The girl who was leading the game leaned across the room.

“Guys, come on… keep it 10 seconds…”

Abby and Leah separated, their lips very red, grinning like idiots. Simon chuckled.

The bottle continued its way around the room to Simon. When Simon spun it, Bram was desperately hoping it would land on him. Then he could kiss Simon and maybe, maybe, lean into it a la Abby and Leah. Then boom, mission accomplished, go home and call it a night.

The bottle landed on Cal. Mother. FUCKING. PRICE!!

Bram heard Abby gasp, and Leah muttered something. Simon and Cal looked across at each other, neither really making a move. The girl (Bram had started referring to her as The Antagonizer) looked between them.

“Guys, you gotta do it. Them’s the rules.” She pursed her lips as she said that.

Simon looked at her, then across at Cal, and they nodded at each other. Simon and Cal slowly made their way across the circle to each other and met in the middle. Goddammit, Bram thought, I think I’m gonna be sick. And not just from the large amount of beer that he’d drank.

The kiss lasted only ten seconds, but to Bram it felt longer. When they separated, Bram couldn’t see Simon but he could see the blush on Cal’s cheeks. Slowly, they shuffled back to their spots opposite each other in the circle. Bram looked over at Simon. Simon wasn’t meeting his gaze, and there was something happening behind those gorgeous eyes that DrUnK Bram couldn’t decipher. The Antagonizer slid the bottle over to Bram.

“Alright, your turn bud,” she said with a smile. It was a little too toothy, if you asked Bram, like how you would imagine the devil smiles when he offers you a deal. Bram looked at the bottle in front of him, then he scanned the room. Abby was worried, Leah was looking at Simon. Frankie was whispering to Cal, Cal was whispering to Frankie. And Simon was just looking at the bottle. Bram looked at his shoes.

“Excuse me,” Bram whispered, then got up and left.

“Well, some people just can’t handle the bottle,” The Antagonizer joked behind Bram, and Bram could hear a few people he didn’t know (and who didn’t know him) laugh as he closed the door behind him. He had made it to the top of the stairs when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and found Simon’s eyes (god they are gorgeous from every distance and angle).

“Bram, you okay?” Simon’s undecipherable expression was gone and was replaced with concern. Bram nodded and wiped away something from his eye (could’ve been a tear, could have been a piece of dust, could’ve been a branch).

“Yeah, I just… get overwhelmed when there’s so many people I don’t know sometimes… I just need to find a quiet place for a bit. Like a room or something.” Bram fumbled with the empty cup in his hand for a bit while Simon nodded.

“Okay…. Wait here for a second okay?” Bram looked at Simon, confused, then nodded. And suddenly Simon disappeared into the crowd, rushing down the stairs. A few minutes later, Simon returned, some sort of key in his hand. “Okay, come with me.” And Simon led Bram all the way up to the top floor, making their way through some more people. Simon led him to a small door, unlocked it and opened it for Bram.

“After you.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have made a small reference to one of the best stand up comedians ever.  
> Also, THERE ARE TWO CHAPTERS LEFT!  
> THE NEXT ONE IS A DOOZY!!  
> STAY HYDRATED!!!


	9. The Kids Aren't Alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from the The Offspring song.
> 
> Disclaimer: This chapter might be emotionally distressing to some. Proceed with caution.

The door had opened onto a small, somewhat dusty stairwell leading up. Bram looked at Simon, then at the stairs.

“Where does this… go?” He asked hesitantly.

“Only one way to find out,” Simon said with a smile. Bram looked at Simon, then back to the stairs, and shrugged.

“Alright, but if I die I’m haunting your ass.” Bram muttered. Simon laughed, causing a warmth to spread throughout Bram.

“As you should. Now get to stepping.” Simon said. Bram cautiously passed Simon, his breath hitching a bit as he shuffled by, and started climbing the stairs. It was only a short stairwell, and at the other end was another door. This door was unlocked, and Bram pushed on it.

Bram found himself on the roof of the frat house. Bram looked down at his phone and saw it was around 11:30. He looked up and in his inebriated state was immediately floored by the view. The skyline of Manhattan rose before him, a glittering mass of skyscrapers and monuments. The lights from the Brooklyn Bridge rose above the rooftops of the surrounding neighborhood.

“It’s beautiful up here,” Bram said as Simon joined him on the roof. Bram felt that, if this were an anime, his eyes would be doing some weird twinkly nonsense. When he looked at Simon and saw the look Simon was giving him, he thought maybe they were, “How are we allowed up here?”

“I asked Conner,” Simon said, walking around behind the roof access hut. Bram followed and found a small cooler. Simon opened it and pulled out two cans of Budweiser. He handed one to Bram and opened the other. Bram opened his and took a sip, “The frat sometimes has little get togethers. Conner told me they tried to have a barbeque up here once, but the grill almost fell through the roof somewhere so… be careful,” Simon said with a laugh. He made his way back towards the front of the roof, going right up to the edge, and sitting down.

Bram sat down beside him, his feet dangling over the edge. Bram looked down at the groups of people milling outside. Bram watched as a few of them got into a car that had driven up, and others were walking away. Bram leaned back from the edge. Bram saw Simon looking at him out of the side of his eye.

"Simon, I have a question,”

“Do you now?” Simon chuckled.

“I do.” Bram turned to Simon, “What happened?” Simon looked at Bram, a smile playing up the left side of his face.

"I think you’ll find, Bram, you need to be a lot more specific.” Simon laughed. Bram burped a little.

“What happened between you and Cal? Like, why’d you guys break up?” Bram saw Simon’s smile shrink away as Simon turned away.

“Ah…” Simon stared out at the Manhattan skyline. Bram, even if intoxicated, felt bad for his sudden bluntness.

“It’s just, I asked the others and they didn’t know really so I just wanted to ask you but now you seem mad so I should shut up now.” Bram realized too late he’d been rambling, but Simon chuckled.

“Bram, how much have you drunk tonight?”

“Well,” Bram said, putting his beer down so he could count on his fingers, “There were two at your place,” He counted two fingers.

“Right.”

“I had a beer when we got here and talked upstairs and had fun.” Another finger rose up.

“Uh-huh,”

“Then Cal showed up and I chugged that beer in the kitchen, then we played beer pong and I chugged those three that were mine soooo” Bram put up another 4 fingers, then turned to Simon. “This many,” He said like he’d just found the cure to cancer. He put up another finger, “Soon to be this many.” Simon laughed, then steadily grabbed the beer Bram had been drinking and pulled it away.

“Yeah, that’s enough for you,” Simon joked as Bram pouted. “Wait, why did you start chugging when Cal showed up? I thought you said you liked him.”

"Why’d you break up with him?”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“So are you,” Bram said, “And I had asked you first!” Bram pointed an unsteady finger at Simon. Simon laughed.

“Yeah, I guess you did…” Simon said, settling back to juts staring out at Manhattan. Bram thought that that was going to be the end of it, then Simon sighed.

“So, we started dating not long after the whole Ferris Wheel thing, when… Blue… didn’t show up. Cal came up to me, told me he was bi and asked if I wanted to go out with him. Abby told me I needed to get myself out there so I… accepted.” Bram looked over at Simon and saw him fidgeting with his beer can, “I really liked dating him. A lot. He was nice, and funny, and we had so much in common but something felt… off… I guess he felt it too.”

“Two weeks into September, we were supposed to go out with some of the friends he had made in his classes, but I wasn’t feeling up to it. And I couldn’t place why. So the night comes, we’re supposed to go out, and I ask him if it’s alright that I stay in, I’m not feeling well. Cal flipped, started saying I was still hooked up on something that had ended months ago. I was so confused, until he pointed out it was the one-year anniversary of the first time I emailed Blue.”

Bram exhaled an “ah”.

“We had a fight that night. I was telling him he was being ridiculous, he was telling me I was being ridiculous. He ended the fight by going out to be with his friends. But I will always remember the last thing he said to me that night. ‘Simon, you are so hung up on someone you don’t even know and who isn’t even here, that you can’t take care of what’s right in front of you.’” Simon took a sip of his beer, finished it, then hurled the can off the roof. Bram watched the can fall and bounce in the street. A group of people it landed near looked up at them and waved while cheering. Bram waved back.

“We broke up three days later. And then three days after that, I realized he was right.”

Bram snapped his gaze back from the waving crowd below to Simon. Simon sighed, his fingers tightly winding together.

“Blue was one of the best things that had happened to me, and him disappearing then not showing up at the carnival was one of the most heartbreaking things that’s ever happened to me. I wasn’t ready to go into a relationship, but I did.” Simon sighed again, a small tear running down his cheek. “And it wasn’t fair to Cal.” Simon looked away from the groups of people on the street below and stared out into the night.

“So seeing him tonight…” Bram started to ask, then stopped when he realized he didn’t know how to finish that question. Simon looked over at him, understanding what Bram had wanted to ask.

“It was… closure… I guess. I hadn’t really seen him since we broke up. Then all of a sudden here he is as a date for someone else.” Simon chuckled, “Life’s funny like that. The really funny thing is I’m already over Cal, but it’s taken me so long to get even a little bit over Blue.”

“Yeah…” Bram whispered.

“That Spin the Bottle kiss was awkward as hell though,” Simon joked, laughing while Bram was silently watching him. “I had a friend tell me not long after the breakup that if we kissed, it might be enough to get us back together. Now I can definitely say that that is a lot of bullshit.”

“So that kiss was-“

“Nothing.” Simon said, then looked back over at Bram, “Why do care so much?”

Startled, Bram looked away, staring at the twinkling lights in the distance as if maybe he could find an answer among them.

“Sorry, that came out weird. Let’s start from the question you’re already avoiding, why did you start drinking so much after Cal showed up.”

It was Bram’s turn to start playing with his hands while looking at them. He could feel Simon’s eyes probing him, and Bram knew it was only fair that he shared. He sighed.

“I was jealous of him.” Bram said, not looking up Simon.

“Jealous…” Simon paused while he thought, “Jealous because he’s dating Frankie.”

“Boy, you really are such an oblivious idiot sometimes.” Bram laughed.

“What?” Simon asked, laughing along with Bram. Bram composed himself.

“I was jealous of Cal… because he dated you.”

It felt like a bomb had dropped. When there had been laughter, and the sound of cars coming off the streets below, suddenly there was silence. But Bram went on.

“Simon, I’ve had a crush on you since freshman year. But I was always too shy to talk to you about anything, other than asking you to steal fries.” He sighed. “Last Halloween was one of the best nights of my life, and I fucked it up because I was going through some stuff and I was stuck in my head and then I thought maybe I was just confused when this… minion… showed up and… when you showed up in my bedroom I knew that I’d rather be there with you than with her… but then you were gone.” He looked over at Simon, who was staring off into the distance, his eyes glazed over, “It ended with her like right after you left, by the way.” Bram looked back down at his hands.

“Then you got outed and the school was just… it was a mess. Then you got stood up at the Ferris wheel and you looked so sad. And I should’ve asked you out, should’ve done anything, but Cal beat me to it. You guys seemed so happy together, and I was happy to see you happy, so I was gonna let that be that. But then I saw you tonight.” Bram looked over at Simon, and by some divine miracle, Simon turned to look at him, his moon-grey eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

“And it all came back to me and I knew I couldn’t give up this chance to talk to you. Which is why when Cal showed up I may have gotten a little… overzealous with the alcohol.” Simon laughed at that as small tears made their ways down his cheeks. Bram reached over at brushed them away.

“Since freshman year huh?” Simon choked, and Bram laughed.

“Yeah…” Bram said, taking his hand away.

“You know, I kinda had a little crush on you too last year. Kind of ended with the aforementioned minion” Simon joked, and Bram laughed, ignoring the small pang in his chest, “It kind of had to do with me thinking you might be Blue” Well that small pang became a pretty sizeable pang.

“Why… why did you think I was Blue?”

“Oh it was stupid really. Just an off-hand remark you made about Halloween Oreos.”

“Huh,” Bram said, thinking back to last Halloween.

“Yeah. The reason I walked in on you and that girl at your party was because I was going to ask if you were Blue.”

Well holy fuck, I fucked that the fuck up, Bram thought.

“But,” continued Simon, “It’s probably for the best,” Simon looked over at Bram, “Because you’re here. And Blue’s not.” Simon smiled, and leaned into Bram.

Oh god he’s leaning in. Oh god, their fingers are touching on the roof between them. Oh god, Simon’s looking at Bram’s lips.

Bram leaned in too.

While this certainly wasn’t a first kiss for either of them, it was their first kiss together, and Bram felt a raw electric heat brush through their lips as they met. It was just a simple kiss, but it felt like the most important thing that Bram would ever do. Sure, him breaking one of his rules for tonight and getting drunk was making this slightly less magical, but Bram wasn’t going to deny those butterflies in his stomach.

Maybe he could break another rule.

The kiss ended, and their lips separated, but they didn’t move back. Bram and Simon kept their faces together, touching foreheads as they listened to each other breathe.

“You were right, by the way,” Bram whispered. Simon looked Bram in the eyes, his eyes imploring Bram to continue.

“I’m… I’m Blue.”

A couple of things happened in quick succession.

First, Simon’s smile, which Bram was certain was the brightest and best thing on this earth, faded.

Second, Simon, stunned by this revelation, pulled away from Bram.

Third, Bram felt those butterflies in his stomach turn into anvils, and he could feel his heart sinking with them.

“Simon?”

Simon sat stunned, looking at Bram. Bram could see Simon’s eyes darting all over Bram, processing this new information. All to quickly, Simon stood up from the ledge of the building, tears brimming at his eyes.

“I have to go,” he choked out before he made his way over to the roof access door.

“Simon, wait!” Bram said. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes. Oh god oh god oh god oh god whywhywhywhywhy? Simon had made it to the roof access before Bram was able to get to his feet. Bram raced after Simon, catching the closing door just before it could lock him out. He opened the door to see Simon charging down the stairs and out into the party below. When Simon opened the door, Bram could hear what sounded like Carly Rae Jepsen blasting from the house below. Bram followed suit, bolting down the stairs as fast as he could so that he couldn’t lose Simon.

But when he got to the bottom of the stairs and opened the door, he didn’t see Simon. He was surrounded by dozens of partygoers.

But no Simon.

***

Garrett hadn’t left the first floor all night. And He wasn’t sure where Bram and Simon had gotten to an hour ago, but he knew that if he stayed on the first floor, he’d catch Bram and Simon if they left together.

Which is how he was able to spot Bram come stumbling down the stairs to the foyer, making his way towards the front door. Garrett raced over to catch him before he could leave, grabbing his wrist.

“Bram, where are you going?”

Bram pulled his wrist out of Garrett’s grasp, startling Garrett a little. Erica came up from behind Garrett and placed a hand on Bram’s shoulder.

“Bram, are you okay?” She asked. Bram turned to look at them and for the first time Garrett saw the tears streaming out of Bram’s eyes, his very red eyes. Bram haphazardly rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

"No,” he choked out, trying not to cry.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Erica probed slightly. Bram shrugged her hand off his shoulder.

“Not really. I’m just… I’m just gonna go home,” He sniffled, then looked at Erica, “It was nice meeting you,”

Erica smiled back at Bram, “It was nice meeting you too.”

“Do you want me to go with you bud?”

“No, you’re having a fun time… I don’t want to ruin your night,” Bram ran his sleeve across his eyes again, “I’ll just get a taxi. I’ll see you at home,” and before Garrett could argue Bram was gone, pushing past the front door and into the night.

Garrett was, reasonably so, upset. He did not have many facts, but he knew that Bram had been with Simon all night. He knew that he had been unable to find either of them for the past hour. He knew that Bram had just left the party crying.

It stood to reason, he figured, that Spier had had something to do with it.

“…Garrett?” he heard Erica ask. “Garrett, no.” Garrett figured his face was showing what he was thinking. He looked from Erica to the stairs, then marched his way over to the stairs.

“Garrett, don’t do anything drastic!” Erica was following him as he took the stairs two at a time. At the second floor, he found Nick coming out of a bedroom, closing the door behind him. Garrett quickly closed the distance between them before Nick knew he was being approached.

"Jesus!” Nick yelped.

“Where is he?” Garrett demanded. Nick’s eyes flicked from Garrett to someone behind Garrett (probably Erica if she had managed to keep up on the stairs).

“Where is… who?”

“Don’t fucking play with me right now Eisner, you know who.” Garrett said that a little too loud, and he could feel the eyes of a few people at the party around them turn to look at them. That’s when Garrett heard a small sniffling come from behind the door Nick just closed. Garrett looked at the door, then at Nick, then at the door. Nick started to shake his head.

“Garrett, Garrett wait a second, you don’t know the whole story and-” Garrett pushed past Nick and slammed open the door to the bedroom to find Abby on a bed hugging Simon, who was sniffling into her shoulder. Before he could cross the room to them, Leah was suddenly in his way. Where she had come from, Garrett wasn’t sure but he had some pretty big rage blinders on right now.

“Garrett calm down,” Leah said sternly, holding him in place. Garrett ignored her, glaring at Simon.

“Where do you get off, huh?” he yelled. He heard the door close behind him, probably Erica or Nick figuring the whole house didn’t need to hear this. Simon looked up at Garrett, shocked.

“Where do you get off, Spier? I would really like to know where you get off.”

“Garrett,” Leah said, “Bram told Simon he was Blue.” She paused as Garrett turned to acknowledge her, “Simon… may have dealt with it poorly.”

“Poorly?! He may have dealt with it poorly?! Well I’ll say he didn’t deal with it at all, since Bram just left here in tears!” Garrett was aware he was yelling again. “God, I just wanted him to come out for one night to NOT THINK ABOUT YOU!” Garrett pointed aggressively at Simon across the room. Simon shrank into Abby. “He HATED himself for not being able to get on that Ferris wheel. I told him, all the time, that it wasn’t his fault, that he was there and you just can’t control panic attacks, brain chemistry is a bitch, all of that. But he still hated himself because he felt he had let you down.”

“So I finally manage to get him to go out, to think about something other than you. AND YOU FUCKING PLAYED A SONG FOR HIM! Don’t think I didn’t notice that song was for Blue, I’m no idiot Spier. And for some reason, Bram, instead of receding, decided to stay out, have a good time with YOU! And I thought maybe I could get my best friend back.” Garrett felt the hot tears forming at the edge of his eyes as he yelled. Leah kept trying to push him back softly but he refused to budge until he was done.

“But now he’s left here in tears. Because you handled it ‘poorly’. Well guess what Simon, I’m glad you did that, because maybe now, he’ll get over your disaster ass and learn to enjoy himself again!” Garrett’s breathing was ragged from yelling, and quickly used the palm of his hand to wipe his tears away. There was a moment of silence as everyone took in what had just happened. Then Simon, with a tremble in his lip, started to bawl into Abby’s shoulder, turning away from Garrett. Abby shot Garrett a look that was neither sympathetic nor accusatory, but something in between.

“Well, you broke Simon,” Nick said from behind Garrett.

“Nice, Nick.” Leah shot. Garrett’s shoulders sagged, because even though he meant everything he had said he felt bad about having said it when he was THIS angry. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

“I think it’s time we left,” He heard Erica say, and he nodded. He turned and followed Erica out of the room. As he passed Nick, Nick grabbed his arm stopping Garrett. Garrett turned to Nick and after a moment, Nick pulled him into a hug. Garrett hugged back.

“Hey, don’t worry. We’ll take care of Simon. Um, the girls and I are here until Sunday. Wanna get lunch or something? Just you and me?”

“Sure,” Garrett smiled weakly, suddenly drained after his breakdown. Then Garrett turned to Leah, who was watching them. “See ya round, Burke.”

“See ya, Laughlin,” Leah shot back with a small smile, then Garrett left the room and closed the door behind him.

***

“Look, I’m, really sorry about that back there.” Garrett said when they had gotten outside, “That was… not my best moment.”

“No,” replied Erica, “It wasn’t. But if someone had made Frankie cry like Bram was, I don’t think I would’ve done any better.” Erica smiled at Garrett, “I think there would’ve been a little more bloodshed.” Garrett laughed at that, “Point is, Garrett, you’re a good person, and a good friend.” Erica’s hand found its way onto Garrett’s arm, rubbing southing circles through his shirt.

Garrett looked down into Erica’s eyes, and in the heat of the moment, leaned in. While he had been hoping she’d kiss him back, he was definitely excited and surprised when she did it anyway. After the tender kiss, he leaned back smiling. Erica giggled.

“God, I’d been hoping you’d do that all night.”

“Well shit, I wanted to do that all night.” Garrett blushed as Erica laughed.

“I think the lesson of the night is ‘communication is key’.”

“Well, in the spirit of communication,” Garrett said, “Would you like to meet me for dinner tomorrow night? There’s a really nice diner near Bram and mine’s place. It’s 24 hour, and I’d take you tonight, but I gotta go check on Bram.”

“I get it, really,” Erica said with a smile, “And I’d love to. How does sixish sound?”

“Six sounds great.” Garrett said with a smile.

“Good,” Erica said, before leaning up to put a kiss on Garrett’s cheek, “Now go check on your Bram. I still need to find Frankie.”

Garrett hailed an approaching cab, then turned back to Erica.

“I’ll text you later.”

“You better, Laughlin,” Erica joked back as Garrett opened the door to the cab and got in. He leaned forward, gave his address to the taxi driver, and sank into the back seat as the taxi raced off into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONE MORE CHAPTER!!!  
> Guys, I get that this chapter was a rough one (trust me, writing it was... a trial) but please don't hunt me down and kill me because the next and LAST chapter is going to be beautiful!  
> And, yet AGAIN, Margaret was awesome Beta reader who live-texted me her emotional breakdown over this chapter.


	10. Kiss The Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUZZAH BITCHES!! 
> 
> Chapter title comes from "Kiss the Rain" by Billie Myers

It was nearly two in the morning by the time Garrett walked in through the front door. Bram couldn’t have left that long before Garrett did, so he was surprised to see Bram had already changed back into his sweatpants and t-shirt and was back at the window with his book. Bram looked up at Garrett as he closed the door, and Garrett could see that while he wasn’t crying anymore his eyes were still red and puffy.

“Hey” Bram said, barely louder than a whisper. Garrett waved, then looked down at his feet. “You’re back earlier than I expected.”

“Yeah, well… party kind of died after you left…”

“Oh…” Bram absentmindedly looked at the floor, brushing away at his eyes. “You’re probably wondering what that was about.”

“Not really,” Garrett sighed, then went to grab a chair from their dining table. He turned it to face Bram and sat down, elbows on his knees. “I know you told him you were Blue.” Bram nodded, then turned to look outside.

“Simon tell you?”

“No, Leah did.” Garrett looked up and saw Bram was still staring out the window. “She might have told me to try to calm me down.” Bram slowly turned back to look at Garrett.

“Calm you down?” Bram asked. Garrett rubbed his hands on his face, then pushed his hair up.

“After you left I knew it had something to do with Simon so I… might have… hunted him down… and yelled at him.” Bram’s eyes went wide.

“Garrett-”

“I know, it was stupid. I was just… so mad for you. I was so mad he’d made you cry like that. I said some really stupid things. I’m… I’m sorry.”

Bram’s eyes softened, and he smiled weakly. In the light coming off the street outside, Garrett could see a wetness forming at the corner of his left eye.

"You know I’m probably not the person you need to say sorry to.” Bram chuckled.

“I know, I’m just… I want to give it a day, let everyone get some rest.” Garrett paused, running a hand through his hair. “It’s been a long night.”

“Understatement of the year,” Bram’s smile faded as the two boys sat in comfortable silence. Then, with a huff, Garrett rose and pushed the chair back into the dining table.

“Well, I need to get some sleep. I need to be well rested for my daaaaaaaate.”

“Wait what?” Bram looked up at Garrett.

“Yup, Erica and I are getting dinner at Marv’s tomorrow night!” Garrett pumped his fist in the air. “Also, we kissed. I think she really likes me dude!”

“Garrett that’s… that’s awesome.”

“Yeah it is!” Garrett exclaimed, not noticing the flicker of sadness in Bram’s eyes until too late. “Umm, sorry. I just-”

“No, you don’t get to sidetrack your happiness because I’m heartbroken. I’m happy for you Garrett, really,” Bram smiled up at Garrett. Garrett nodded, and started to head to his bedroom then stopped.

“Um, Nick and I are going to get coffee sometime this weekend while he’s still here. It’s just us two, but if you wanted to come along I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” Bram shook his head.

“I think I’m just gonna stay in this weekend. Catch up on assignments, sleep in til eleven.” Bram sighed, “Like you said, it’s been a long night,”

Garrett nodded, then walked over to his best friend and hugged him tight. After releasing Bram from the hug, Garrett looked down at the book in Bram’s lap. On top of the book was a piece of paper, and Bram had been writing on it. Garrett picked it up.

“What’s this?” He asked, and before Bram could answer Garrett started reading what Bram had been writing down, “Times Square… Apollo Theater… Dre on the piano in FAO…” Garrett looked down at Bram. Bram reached up to grab the paper away from Garrett.

“It’s nothing… just something stupid.” Bram muttered as he shoved the paper face down onto the book. Garrett pursed his lips, trying to determine whether he should press on. He decided not to. Instead he patted Bram’s shoulder.

“Please try to get some sleep,” Garrett whispered, “I love you, bud. I’m here for you.”

“Thanks Garrett… I love you too,”

“No homo,” Garrett joked, then stopped laughing when Bram shot him a look, “Yeah, that was… I’m probably too tired to be my normal witty self so I’m going to go to sleep.” Garrett slowly backed away to his bedroom, then, with one final wave towards Bram, closed his bedroom door and went to bed.

***

Bram knew he should have gone to bed when Garrett did but honestly, he didn’t feel that tired. So for another hour, he stayed in that window, alternating between reading the book and adding to his list of places to visit in New York. When he figured he was done, having added a ton of New York activities to the list (“Go to the Soup Nazi restaurant” had nearly been written twice by accident), he decided sleep was a good idea. He left his book on the dining table and returned to his bedroom.

Bram approached the corkboard his dad had helped him hang above his desk. He turned on his desk lamp and looked at the board. A number of pictures form high school and other mementoes were tacked up there. Bram moved some of them around, clearing out a space in the middle, where he added his New York City Bucket List (NYCBL, as Simon would so affectionately call it). Bram stepped back, admiring how it felt right. Then he turned the desk light back off and crawled into the bed behind him.

It was 3 minutes later, just after Bram had found THAT spot on the bed, that he heard a crash come from the living room.

***

Simon stood in the street, hands over his mouth, staring up at the broken window he had just thrown a rock through.

Fucking physics, ruining the moment.

A second later, Simon saw the lights go on in the apartment. Then Bram appeared at the window, looking down at the floor. Simon watched him bend down, disappearing below the window sill. When he stood back up, Bram was holding onto the pretty sizeable stone that Simon had picked up on the street (in hindsight, it was probably TOO sizeable).

That was when Bram turned to look out the window and saw Simon. The confused look Bram had on his face morphed into one of anger.

“What the FUCK?!” Bram yelled out the hole in his window.

Simon, stunned by how his act of redemption had gone so wrong (SO WRONG), decided to just get into what it was he had come here to do. So, he picked up his guitar from where he had put it down on the street, put the strap over his shoulder, strummed a few chords.

And started to sing.

***

Bram’s stunned anger became stunned… something else while Simon sang.

 _Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you_  
              _Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new_  
_Flashback, warm nights almost left behind_  
_Suitcases of memories, time after..._

Holy crap Simon was on the street serenading him. Fuck he was serenading him with Cyndi Lauper. Bram felt his face get hot as Simon started onto the chorus.

 _If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me_  
               _Time after Time_  
_If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting_  
_Time after Time_

Bram decided to bolt for the front door. He couldn’t just stand up here, surrounded by broken glass (barefoot, no less! That’s a safety hazard) while Simon was down there singing to him. He grabbed his keys as he ran out the front door. He took the stairs two at a time, bounding downstairs into the lobby then bursting out the front door into the cool November air.

Simon had stopped playing. Instead he was just staring up at the window, tears falling down his face. When the front door banged closed, Simon turned to see Bram standing there. Simon swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in the pale streetlight, then wiped away those tears that had been making their way down his cheeks.

“Why’d you stop playing?” Bram asked, choking back his own tears long enough to get his question out. Simon sniffled.

“I thought you’d gone back to bed and that I had fucked up,” he mumbled out. Bram nodded in understanding.

“Can I hear the rest?” Bram asked. Simon nodded, then started strumming again.

_After my picture fades and darkness had turned to gray  
               Watching through windows, you’re wondering if I’m OK_

Bram crossed his arms, trying to warm himself from the chilly November wind. He was still only in a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, while Simon had apparently had the wherewithal to bring a jacket. Bram wasn’t about to stop Simon to go get a sweater, though. He reached up and brushed away a few tears brimming in his eyes.

_Secrets stolen from deep inside  
               The drum beats out of time_

_If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me_  
               _Time after Time_  
_If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting_  
_Time after Time_

Then Simon started into the instrumental break, and Bram watched his fingers pluck the strings. It was a beautiful cover, really. Bram felt his tears start running down his face again. Then, as if the whole world was listening to this and was feeling what Bram felt, the rain started again. It wasn’t a torrential downpour like it had been earlier that day. Sometimes, the droplets struck the strings on Simon’s guitar as they fell, letting out an out of place note. But Simon continued, and to Bram it was one of the most beautiful songs he’d ever heard.

               _You said, “Go slow”. I fall behind  
               The second hand unwinds_

 _If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me_  
           _Time after Time_  
_If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting_  
_Time after Time_  
_If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me_  
_Time after Time_  
_If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting_  
_Time after Time_

When Simon finished, he looked up at Bram, and Bram couldn’t tell what was tears and what was rain. Bram approached slowly but didn’t speak.

“I’m sorry,” Simon blurted out. Bram saw him swallow again before continuing, “I’m sorry I blamed you for the Ferris Wheel,” He paused, “I didn’t know about the panic attacks. I’m sorry I ran when you told me you were Blue. Sometimes when I don’t know how to handle something I… run away from it… I’m sorry I made you cry,” Bram could hear the sniffling as Simon tried to keep his composure. Simon looked up at Bram’s apartment, “And I’m sorry I broke your window.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Bram joked, causing Simon to chuckle.

"I wanted to do that thing in the movies where they throw a stone at a window to get the person’s attention, and the small ones weren’t getting your attention,”

“So you threw a rock?” Bram laughed, “You know you’re supposed to throw a handful of small stones instead of one big one right?” Simon blinked.

“I did not,” he said. Bram snorted, “I’ll remember that for next time.” They stood in silence in the street, with only the sound being that of the rain landing on the ground between them.

“I’m sorry too,” Bram said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t brave enough to tell you who I was before. I’m sorry I couldn’t be on the Ferris Wheel with you, and before you say it’s not my fault I know, but I’m still sorry,” Bram took a step forward, “I’m sorry I never had the courage to tell you how I feel about you.” Simon swung the guitar around onto his back, then reached out for Bram. Bram took his hand, and Simon pulled him into a hug, burrowing his head into Bram’s shoulder. Bram could feel the tears rolling down his face, and he could hear Simon sobbing into his shoulder. Once both boys had stopped crying and had taken a moment to just enjoy the hug, Simon pulled himself out of Bram’s neck.

“So…”

“So.” Bram returned.

“What do we do now?” Simon asked. Bram shrugged.

“I have absolutely no idea,”

“How does a date sound? Just as a first step.” Simon asked quietly. Bram smiled.

“A date sounds perfect.”

“And I really don’t want to ruin this so, if it’s alright with you I’d like to take this… slow.” Simon added.

“Slow sounds good,” Bram whispered, his cheeks hurting from how much he was smiling, “Though I think you did promise me you would take me into Times Square.” Simon laughed, then stared into Bram’s eyes.

“I did say that didn’t I?”

“Yep,” Bram poked Simon on the nose, “And I intend to hold you to that promise.”

“I would expect nothing less,” Simon said. Then, in a hushed tone, Simon continued, “Can I kiss you?”

“I would expect nothing less,” Bram whispered, and Simon leaned up into Bram’s lips. Their first kiss had been rough and tipsy but now, after an hour or so of sobering up, Bram was present in the kiss. He was really happy he’d brushed his teeth earlier, or else Simon would have been hit with the sudden taste of beer. Simon himself tasted like Oreos more than anything. Simon's lips were soft, softer than Bram remembered from the rooftop. Bram ran a hand up Simon’s back to the nape of Simon’s neck, and gently held him in place, while his other hand rose up to gently cup Simon's jaw. Simon carefully placed his arms around Bram’s midsection, and they continued to kiss in the rain.

As they broke apart, Bram could feel Simon smiling, radiating joy. Bram felt a vibration in his leg, and before he could really process how his phone could be vibrating in his pocket when he was sure it was still charging upstairs, Simon pulled his own out of his jean pocket. Simon looked down at his phone, where Bram saw it was close to three in the morning. When Simon swiped across his phone, it unlocked to reveal a groupchat that Bram could see was called “Operation Spierfeld 2.0”. Bram looked up at Simon, raising an eyebrow. Simon ducked away.

“Abby may have told me about her plan to help you out tonight,” Simon smiled as he said that.

“Uh-huh, is that all she told you?”

“I don’t know, Bramothy, you tell me.” Simon said laughing, and Bram playfully smacked Simon on the arm.

“I’m going to kill her,” Bram said, then laughed as well.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Bram and Simon turned to look up at the window, as Garrett came running to the window, looking down the shattered glass on the floor. He then looked out the window at Bram and Simon on the street below. “HANDFUL OF STONES!! DO YOU NOT LISTEN TO A WORD I SAY?!”

“Sorry!!” Simon yelled, grimacing as Garrett shook his head.

“You are lucky it worked!” Garrett joked, then left to go find a broom. Bram looked over at Simon.

“He was in the groupchat?”

“He was in the groupchat,” Simon confirmed, nodding. Bram snickered, then looked up at the window.

“I should go help him, he’s got a date with Erica tomorrow and he wants to be well rested for it,” Bram turned back to Simon, “He really likes her, and would be so pissed if he screwed that up.”

“I can relate,” Simon joked, smiling at Bram. “I should probably get home anyway. I too have a date that I would like to be well rested for.”

“Hmm, sounds like a lucky guy,” Bram smiled.

“Well seeing as I have nearly messed it up too many times already, I’d say I’m the lucky one.” Simon replied, adjusting the guitar hanging on his back. Then he stood in front of Bram and after a few seconds of comfortable silence leaned in for a quick peck. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said with a smile.

“You better, Spier.” Bram replied with a laugh, while backing towards his front door. When he got to the front door, he turned and opened it, and offered Simon one final wave before going back upstairs.

When he got into his apartment, Garrett had already cleaned up most of the glass. Garrett was muttering about insurance, when he looked up at Bram.

"So?” Garrett asked. Bram shrugged nonchalantly.

“He’s taking me on a date tomorrow,” Bram smiled as he spoke, “We’re going to take it slow.”

“That’s good,” Garrett said, smiling, “I’m happy for you bro.” Garrett looked down at the waste bin as he dumped glass into it.

“Let me finish that up, you should go to sleep,” Bram offered, taking the broom. Garrett nodded, shuffling off to his bed, “Good night Gar!” Bram called out.

“Your love life is too tiring!” Garrett called back as he closed his door, and Bram snickered.

Once Bram was finished cleaning up the glass and had taped a garbage bag over the hole in the glass, he made his way to bed. Instead of going directly to bed, he walked over to his corkboard and flicked the desk lamp on again. He then delicately pulled the bucket list off his board and grabbed a pen. At the top of the paper, he wrote “Bram’s NYCBL”, and at the bottom, he crossed out the last item he had put there.

               _~~Kiss Simon Spier again~~_

He replaced the bucket list on the corkboard, turned off the desk lamp, and then crawled into bed. And for the first time, Bram fell asleep with a smile on his face and a memory on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I have so much to say, so please stay with me.
> 
> First, if you're wondring why this chapter came so soon after the last one, it's because I'm going on vacation Saturday and I didn't want to leave you guys in emotional pain for like two weeks or something. Plus I really needed my boys to be okay.
> 
> Second, thank you to EVERYONE who read this, gave it kudos, commented about the feels. I love you all, and you've made this amazing. This was my first time writing fanfic and honestly, you guys made it wonderful. A special thank you to Margaret, for reading the last half of this fic and telling me what to do to make it better in a grammatical sense.
> 
> Third, you'll notice I gave this chapter a title. I've always wanted to give the chapters titles, but didn't know what to do, but now I think I want to name them all after 80s and 90s songs. So if any of you have ideas for specific chapters, or just in general, lemme know!
> 
> And finally, if any of you guys want to contact me, I have a tumblr: http://captain-jackdaniels.tumblr.com/  
> [EDIT]: I changed my URL, it is now homosexualontheloose.tumblr.com
> 
> I love you all,  
> Cameron


End file.
